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This chapter discusses the American Association for the Advancement of Science/Commission on Professionals in Science and Technology (AAAS/CPST) study of nontraditional pathways into the information technology and computer science (IT/CS) workforce. A “nontraditional pathway” is defined as the path taken by a nontraditional student, i.e., someone who: delays enrollment at least three years after graduating from high school or earning a GED; attends college mostly part-time; takes longer than six years to complete a degree; is employed full-time during most of their studies; or has dependents while attending college. Researchers interviewed 72 IT/CS faculty and 139 IT/CS students at the twenty institutions. The study found that the same variables that prevent women and minorities from choosing IT/CS education are compounded for nontraditional students who want to attend traditional universities.

This introductory chapter talks about the individuals engaged in the ongoing activity required to work at Ravenwood College on a daily basis, specifically, their struggles, competing agendas, tensions, triumphs, and deliberations. Much of this analysis designates the institution's position in a hierarchy of excellence, particularly, on the lower end of the scale. In the ongoing, postsecondary hierarchy premised on elitehood, selectivity, resources, and prestige, Ravenwood was peripheral at best. Despite the extraordinary commencement ceremony, and what some call Ravenwood's “special spirit,” the American context positioned the institution as mediocre. Its service to nontraditional students (in terms of race, gender, and class) was starkly overshadowed by the pressure to maintain its position in the meritocracy.

This chapter explores the rapid growth of online education. It evaluates the likelihood that distance learning will break the rise in college cost and disrupt the traditional model of campus-based programming. There are many ways that the rapid entrepreneurial development of digital learning can change how higher education is provided, and there are many ways that online education may work in the labor market of the future. Although digital techniques will continue to improve and develop, this chapter does not forecast an upheaval in the way higher education is delivered to students in the traditional age range of eighteen to twenty-four. Online education will continue to expand the opportunities for older and returning students, while traditional campus-based programming will continue to offer the best alternative for younger first-time students.