Every weekday morning, Tabatha Woodside wakes up at 6:30 am. She drops her two sons off at daycare and school and heads to class.
When she gets out, it’s time for studying and running errands; evenings are for taking care of her family and racing to complete homework.
“By the weekend, I am exhausted,” says Woodside, a single mother. “Rarely do I get a night to myself or time to relax with other adults.”
USM has long been a magnet for nontraditional students, mainly because of the urban location and affordability. With the current economic hardships, getting a degree to improve one’s financial situation is appealing.
The average college student is generally defined as someone between the ages of 18 and 24 – somebody who begins their higher education right around high school graduation.
The rest fall into the “nontraditional” camp – those who take up or resume their studies after some time in the work force, usually beyond the age of 24.
According to the University of Maine System Student Profiles, the average age of a USM student is 27, two years older than in 1995. But the same profile also notes that traditional undergraduate and graduate students are making up a larger proportion of enrollment.
Because USM has traditionally had a high ratio of nontraditional students, it has been categorized as a “commuter school.” With the recent drop in enrollment, the school has embarked on a marketing campaign and high school outreach program that indicate an interest in the more stable and lucrative traditional market.
“We have always been actively engaged in recruiting both [age] sectors,” said Craig Hutchinson, Vice President of Student and University Life, regarding USM’s recruiting efforts. However, due to the gradual drop in birth and graduation rates in New England over the past 10 years, homegrown traditional students are becoming increasingly scarce.
For Woodside, college has been a delicate balance between studying and motherhood. She started college in New York State after graduating high school in 1998, but found it difficult to be away from friends and family. She moved back to Maine, got married, and began raising her son while attending USM
The marriage didn’t work out, but Woodside continued with her education with the help of Federal Assistance programs. When her second child was born, she found she could no longer afford tuition.
“Programs started getting cut and I found myself in a position where it was nearly impossible for me to go back to finish my last year and a half at USM,” said Woodside.
She moved to Boston in hopes of finding a better paying job, but instead found herself and her youngest son in a homeless shelter. She did eventually find housing and a better job, but moved back to Maine to reconnect with her older son.
Last fall she decided to start taking classes again, but found it much more difficult than before. “Most [professors] are sympathetic, but there are standards, and unfortunately there is only so much they can do to excuse late papers or missed classes for a person in my circumstance.”
In President Selma Botman’s strategic planning process, which begins offering suggestions for sharpening the University’s focus in January, it is expected that offering more distance education will be a part of the push for accomodating older students.
Because of the nontraditional students’ lifestyle, making the college course load more convenient is becoming a priority.
Woodside has held on through adversity in the hope that, someday, she will earn her degree. But, she says, as a single mom “everything you do means that much more. It’s not just for your future; it’s for your childrens’ as well.”
She misses programs like Parents as Scholars, a state funded program to help TANF (Temporary Aid to Needy Families) recipients get a degree, and then a better paying job. In 2000, while Woodside was attending USM, the program also included a support group for single parents.
“There is no longer any unity or community here at USM for us,” she says. “I feel isolated.”
But as sure as she is that the road to a college degree remains difficult for the decidedly nontraditional student with mouths to feed, Woodside remains confident and focused on her academic career.
“The first thing they instruct parents to do during an emergency safety video on an airplane is to secure your own oxygen mask, before you assist your children,” she says.
“If you are unconscious what good are you to your children? You have to seek your own happiness before you can give it to them.”