UC Davis defines reentry students as undergraduates over age 25 and graduate students over age 30. Reentry students also include traditionally aged students who are married or who have children. Numbering about 1,540, reentry students make up about 8% of the undergraduate student population at UC Davis. The average age of undergraduate reentry students enrolled fall quarter (2004) was 32, with ages ranging from 25 to 69; 47% male, 53% female. The first reentry students were predominantly veterans returning from World War II, but since then women have made up a larger proportion of the reentry student population; however, a new national trend shows more males returning to colleges and universities.
Reentry students come to UC Davis from a variety of backgrounds. Some may have started college in their teens and left because of financial, personal, or scholastic reasons. Others dropped out of high school because of pregnancy, drugs, or lack of support. Some have worked in professional, semi-professional, administrative, skilled, and unskilled jobs before coming to the university. Some have spent their lives raising a family and have returned to the university in search of a dream. Some are retired, some are young single parents or young couples looking for a better way to support their families. Others are simply looking to change careers or update their existing skills. Some are on welfare and require financial aid and scholarships, some have saved for many years and require few outside financial resources, others work full- or part-time to support their studies. Reentry students own their own homes, rent living space, or have returned to their parents' home so they can attend the university.
Contact Information
Shirley Sperry, Coordinator
(530) 752-2005 - TB 98
Web site: reentry.ucdavis.edu
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