The “Typical” College Student Is Changing — And So Are Universities
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Asia Tabb
AIRED; September 3, 2025
Listen to the podcast to hear the full conversation.
The idea of a “traditional” college student — 18 to 24 years old, living on campus, and attending classes full-time — may no longer match reality. That’s what Alvernia University Provost Leamor Kahanov, Ph.D., explained in a recent conversation on The Spark.
“A student’s lived experience prior to education has changed,” Kahanov said. “Students have ready access to information they didn’t have before. Students have ready access to AI that we didn’t before. And their lived experiences are often digital…we have to acknowledge that and change the way we teach and the offerings that we have.”
Kahanov noted that students now balance work, athletics, family responsibilities, and other obligations alongside their studies. For some, that means taking hybrid or online classes while still seeking the social experience of living on campus. “We have to shift with the changing students’ experiences,” she said. “But the quality of the education has to remain the same.”
When asked about the origins of the term “traditional student,” Kahanov explained that it came from financial aid categories: full-time, residential students under 24 were considered “traditional,” while older learners taking weekend or online classes were “non-traditional.” Today, those lines are blurred. “It really doesn’t matter which kind of student you are,” she said. “But for ease and probably historically, we talk about that 18 to 24 year old student who may live on campus as the traditional population.”
National numbers reflect the shift. Millions of students now take at least some classes online, 26% are fully online, and about 20% are parents themselves. At Alvernia, Kahanov said the university has responded by offering flexible options, from seven-week accelerated courses to certificate programs that can build toward associate’s, bachelor’s, or master’s degrees.
“For someone who has family obligations…you can achieve something in seven weeks. Fifteen weeks sometimes is hard,” she explained. “We’ve made smaller chunks so that people—it’s digestible, and it doesn’t look so onus on your time and your commitment.”
Beyond academics, Kahanov emphasized the importance of fostering community. “When students walk into your office just to talk, or faculty host virtual coffee hours where students can pop in, that means we’ve created community,” she said. “This is not transactional. This is relational. And that’s what makes this campus special.”
For today’s students — whether they’re 18-year-olds in residence halls or working adults pursuing degrees online — the path to higher education looks different than it once did. But as Kahanov put it, the goal remains the same: making sure “a degree is achievable.”
