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Non Traditional Students Of Color Essay

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Non-traditional students of color are often faced with obstacles that make life that much more challenging as compared to traditional students. Rendon (1994) labeled “non traditional students as those that attend affordable community colleges and minority serving institutions, and traditional students are those whose families have a history of college attendance, come from middle and upper class families, and typically feel confident about attending college”
(p. 13). And, research shows that these obstacles, challenges, and barriers that people of color face have negative effects throughout their lives. Education is a prime example of how people of color suffer great setbacks when they first enter college. Rendon (1994) points out “students from underrepresented backgrounds often experience isolation, a lack of self-efficacy, and a lack of a sense of belonging in college contexts”(p. 48). Furthermore, one needs to take it one step back and realize that most students of color are much more likely to attend schools where most of their peers are poor or low-income. Therefore, socio economic status (SES) determines the education a person receives throughout K-12. Walpole (2004) also describes how “low SES parents are more likely to define success as a secure full-time job after graduating from high school. College attendance is not an expectation and often means enrolling in a community college or technical school when it does occur” (p. 47). When a student reaches the

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