On Oct. 31, Dean for Continuing Education Rita Serotkin gave a presentation called “An Overlooked Minority: Adult Students’ Persistence and Degree Completion,” which analyzed the graduation rates of adult students across the country. The data is based on the National Center for Education Statistics.

The statistics of the presentation clearly showed differences between adult and traditional students. A 2005 survey showed that adult students are more likely to have children and 54 percent hold a job that requires them to work at least 30 hours a week. This shows that many adult students are part-time.

“We don’t see many first-time, full-time adult students,” Serotkin said.

As for Guilford College, the data presented was for Center for Continuing Education (CCE) students who were full-time in their first semester at Guilford. It showed that over 40 percent of CCE students are non-white, most are female, and most hold an average GPA of 3.0. The most popular majors are business and elementary education and in the fall of 2001, it was estimated that 51 percent of CCE students graduated within five years.

One of the topics discussed at the meeting were the differences between CCE and traditional students, which Serotkin believes to be culture-oriented.

“A lot of adult students don’t have a mentor pushing them,” Serotkin said. “They need more guidance than traditional students.”

Despite this difference, Claudia Lange, a senior in the CCE department, embraces the diversity between CCE and traditional students.

“I have never felt anything but welcome among the traditional students,” Lange said. “I learn so much from them. The students I have gone to class with for several years now are friends. We comfort each other and give each other advice. They help me and I help them.”

Lange’s experience with traditional students shows that Guilford’s size plays a role in some of the CCE successes.

“We’re doing better because some surrounding schools have more students and the adult students tend to fall through the cracks,” Serotkin said.

This has to do with a smaller student population, and more interactions with professors. Lange believes that part of her success as a CCE student is due to her chemistry with teachers.

“Most have been very willing to accommodate the weirdness that comes along with returning to school while balancing family, spouses, illnesses, even pets,” Lange said.

While the Guilford CCE program is flourishing, it seeks improvements as well. A lot of CCE students, who often take class at night, want more classes to be offered at that time. Serotkin wants to improve on these factors to make CCE an even better environment for adult students.

A recent donation will continue the improvement and expansion of the CCE program. On Oct. 26, Steve James (’76) and his wife, Judy, made a commitment of $210,000 to fund scholarships and service needs for CCE students.

“This endowment will help us guarantee that (CCE students) will have the support they need to achieve their dreams,” Serotkin said on the Guilford Web site.