Supporting Nontraditional Students in Higher Education: A Literature Review on Challenges and Faculty Roles

This narrative review examines how colleges and universities can better support adult and other nontraditional students by designing learning environments around the realities of students’ lives rather than assumptions of uninterrupted time, residential enrollment, or linear academic pathways. Literature concerning adult learners, student parents, working students, veterans, students with disabilities, first-generation students, and commuter students was synthesized to identify recurring barriers across courses and institutional systems. The central problem was framed not as a lack of student motivation but as misalignment between students’ responsibilities and the organization of academic work, support services, and institutional policy. The review argues that faculty occupy a critical position because they shape course expectations while also helping students identify and access institutional resources. It proposes an alignment framework connecting students’ lived constraints, structured course flexibility, faculty connector practices, and accessible institutional support. Sustainable equity requires coordinated course design, visible referral pathways, and institutional systems that treat varied student circumstances as expected conditions rather than exceptions.