According to the National Center for Education Statistics, college students may be classified as "nontraditional" because of their age or employment status, or because they have one or more dependents, are independent for financial aid, are enrolled part time or don't have a traditional high school diploma. For more details, check out this U.S. News article.

Before You Attend the Fairs

Review Dr. Kevin J. Fleming's videos. Tap the Videos for all Audiences and Videos for Students links to watch Preparing for Life After High School: 4 Skills & 4 Steps to a Successful Career. Additional career-related videos are available on his website.

Articles to Read

The U.S. News article A College Guide for Nontraditional Students also provides valuable information and links to articles such as Going Back to College as an Adult: What to Consider, Campus Support Every First-Year College Student Should Use, and more. Another article to review is Forbes' What Accreditation Should A College Have? What To Know.

Informed Decision ~ Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA)

Enrolling in an accredited institution and program could make you more competitive post-graduation, as stated in the Forbes article above. Connecting to the (CHEA)—Browse Directories, i.e., Search Institutions, Search Programs, and Search Accreditors, allows you to contact the institutions with questions.

Sample CHEA Search

1. Connect to the CHEA website.
2. Click Browse Directories and Search Programs
3. Locate Program Type by scrolling down to find, e.g. Interior Design, and click Search.
4. You can now select from the Institution, e.g. Michigan State University or Accredited Program heading.

   1. Selecting the Institution will show you the college’s Institutional Accreditation and its Accredited Programs.
   2. Selecting Accredited Program will provide the contact information for the Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA) and list their certified Interior Design programs. You can also produce a duplicate listing of the CIDA-certified Interior Design programs by entering CIDA in the Search Box for Search Accreditors.

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If you are considering enrolling in college for the first time or returning, you and your support group, parents/guardians, counselor, etc., can .

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