An Investigation of Selected Predictors of Nontraditional Student Academic Performance in Different Learning Environments: Personal Characteristics, Stressors, and Social Support

The current study employed a secondary statistical analysis on the 2007 National Study on Nontraditional Students Survey data to investigate whether personal characteristics, student perceived stressors, and social support could predict academic performance of nontraditional students enrolled in three different learning environments in terms of instructional delivery methods, and the three different learning environments were named as: distance education, combination of distance and on-campus education, and on-campus education. A total of 879 survey respondents who were pursuing an Associate's (N=395) or Bachelor's degree (N=484), with 470 respondents instructed primarily through distant course delivery, 143 respondents instructed through both classroom and distant course delivery, and 266 respondents primarily instructed through classroom course delivery, were selected for the study. Blockwise regression analyses, using personal characteristics, stressors, and social support as predictors, and GPA as the outcome variable, were conducted to answer the research questions. The results of statistical analyses indicated that for students in distance education, age and single parent status were statistically significant predictors, and students with higher GPA tended to be older and were not single parents. For students studying in the combination of distance and on-campus education, age and employment status were statistically significant predictors, and students with higher GPA tended to be older and work more hours per week. Lastly, for students studying on-campus, gender, employment status, single parent status, and professional community support were statistically significant predictors, and students with higher GPA tended to be female, work more hours per week, not single parents, and received lower support form the professional community. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]