<p>Also, there are some schools for nontraditional students that are different from others. Columbia has a continuing ed school and the School for General Studies. I don’t know much about CE, but at Columbia’s School of General Studies, the nontraditional students come from all over the world. They take almost all of their classes with the other undergrads in CC and SEAS, and their professors are not adjuncts but the same professors who teach the younger undergrads. The only differences are that they are able to take their classes part-time (as opposed to the full-time requirement for CC and SEAS students) and that there are support services specifically for non-traditional students, such as advising deans well-versed in helping military veterans transition to full-time school. And with an average GPA of 3.8 and top SAT scores required to get in, admission is not based upon ability to pay.</p>
<p>I’ve had GS students in my classes alongside CC students, and the only thing that really distinguishes them is age. In many cases, the GS students are harder-working and less entitled than their younger counterparts. I’ve meet with GS students in the evenings and on the weekends to help them out with class material (I figure if they are willing to come in on a Saturday for tutoring, I am willing to too) and they’re much more likely to come to my office hours than CC students. And they get recruited by the top firms like the CC and SEAS students too.</p>
<p>So it totally depends on the format of the school; we can’t make blanket statements about all of them.</p>