What comes to mind when you think of the 'typical' higher education student? For many, it's still the traditional image of a young person fresh out of high school, living on campus and fully immersed in academic life.
However, a review of demographic shifts over the last twenty years indicates it might not be what you think. Non traditional learners now constitute the new majority in higher education in the United States.
These new majority learners encompass three core groups; time poor, underprepared and learners with barriers. Today, we're focusing on a critical segment: the learner with innate barriers, a group whose unique challenges demand a shift in how institutions provide support.
Understanding and effectively serving learners with barriers – those facing physical disabilities, neurodiversity, or language challenges – is paramount for fostering an inclusive and successful higher education environment.
This requires moving beyond traditional accommodations to a proactive, accessible by design model that leverages technology to truly empower every student to thrive.
Who are students with barriers?
The learner with barriers persona describes students who encounter inherent obstacles to their learning, often stemming from personal characteristics. Primarily, this group includes individuals with physical disabilities, mental health challenges, and those for whom English is an additional language.
It's also crucial to acknowledge the intersectionality of these traits. For example, international students may frequently fall into the English as a second language (ESL) category or experience mental health challenges. This overlap means a single student might face multiple, compounding barriers, making their educational journey even more complex.
- Students with disabilities: While the reported figure of 4.3% of students identifying as disabled in 2022 may seem relatively low, it represents a substantial 72% increase since 2008, indicating a growing trend in higher education.
- Neurodiversity: Neurodiversity has seen the sharpest rise among all New Majority characteristics, with 16.5% of learners identifying as neurodivergent in 2022 – a staggering 267% increase since 2004.
- Students with language barriers: ESL students increased by 37% to 17.7% of the population between 2004 and 2022. These students often face significant language barriers that can impact comprehension, note-taking, and their ability to revisit content effectively.
- Students with mental health difficulties: These learners may experience psychological stress, which can affect their ability to focus and engage.
- Veterans: While sometimes secondary, veterans can fall into this category due to potential mental health challenges or adaptation to civilian academic life.
Explore the map below to see how many students with barriers there are across the United States.
What challenges do students with barriers face?
Students with barriers face a unique and varied set of challenges that can significantly impact their academic journey.
Concentration & cognitive overload
Learning with innate barriers can often mean struggling with fundamental aspects of engagement, focus, and retention. This can manifest as issues with concentration, attention, and cognitive overload during lectures or study sessions, making it difficult to absorb and process information effectively.
For neurodivergent students, specifically, these core learning challenges around attention are inherently interwoven with their neurodiversity.
Traditional content delivery methods, such as lengthy lectures, often overlook these universal challenges, which are significantly exacerbated for neurodivergent students, leaving many feeling overwhelmed and disengaged.
Stigma and lack of confidence
Beyond the cognitive hurdles, these learners frequently experience stigma and a profound lack of confidence in academic settings. This can lead to self blame, criticism, frustration, and reduced effort, creating a downward spiral that impacts their individual learning journey and overall success.
For instance, ESL students moving to a new country or studying in a non native language can find it both challenging and mentally overwhelming, leading to a lack of confidence and increased stress about studying.
Veterans, while not exclusively defined by innate barriers, may face unique mental health challenges (like PTSD or TBI) that act as innate barriers, leading to difficulties with concentration or adjusting to civilian academic life, which can also contribute to a sense of separation from their peers and faculty.
The pressure to conform to traditional learning norms can be immense, further exacerbating their sense of feeling disadvantaged compared to peers.
Underreporting of disabilities
A particularly concerning aspect is the underreporting of disabilities. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 65% of students do not report their disability to their school, especially if it's not visible.
This significant missing 65% means many students who would benefit from accommodations and support are not receiving them, often due to fear of stigmatization, perceived lack of useful resources, or long waiting times for support. This silence perpetuates a cycle of unmet needs and disengagement.
How can colleges support learners with barriers?
Recognizing the unique and often profound challenges faced by learners with barriers, higher education institutions must evolve their support mechanisms.
It's no longer enough to offer isolated interventions; instead, a holistic, proactive approach that integrates accessibility into the very fabric of the educational experience is required.
This means shifting the focus from simply accommodating individual needs to designing an environment where all students, regardless of their innate barriers, can fully engage and achieve their potential.
Adopt a success first model
To truly support learners with barriers, institutions must pivot from a regulatory driven, compliance focused approach to adopting a 'success first model' that is accessible by design.
This means proactively incorporating accessibility features across campus, recognizing that what benefits one student, like captioned videos or screen reader compatible text, can benefit all.
This holistic approach centers on the student's overall development, empowering them to actively participate in their learning and build resilience.
Deploy assistive technology
The application of assistive technology (AT) is central to breaking the disengagement cycle for these learners. Tools such as speech to text or captions have a demonstrable, positive impact on the learning experience for all students.
Glean directly addresses this by providing a comprehensive note taking and study tool. The recording and transcript feature allows students to revisit lectures at any time, which is invaluable for students who experience concentration issues or cognitive overload, enabling them to process information at their own pace and reinforce understanding.
Beyond compliance, proactively engaging with technology in teaching methods, like ensuring universally designed learning (UDL) and accessibility standards are followed, directly supports students who may have difficulty understanding or processing information.
Embrace online learning
The rise of online learning offers unparalleled flexibility and accessibility, directly dismantling many barriers faced by learners. The asynchronous nature of many online programs allows students to learn at their own pace, integrating education into their busy lives, which is particularly beneficial for those with fluctuating energy levels or needing specific accommodations.
Glean's Chrome extension enhances this experience by keeping notes and lecture materials together on the same page for online classes, improving organization and making all learning materials accessible in one place.
Institutions must actively bridge the digital divide by providing necessary equipment and ensuring online courses are designed with accessibility in mind, fostering a more equitable and accessible education system for everyone.
Promote study skills courses
For many learners with barriers, arriving on campus with differing learning experiences means they may lack the requisite study skills for higher education.
Comprehensive study skills courses can be instrumental in equipping them with essential tools like effective note taking, time management, and critical thinking strategies. Such courses help to level the playing field by providing a common foundation in crucial learning strategies.
This approach ensures that all students, regardless of their prior academic experience, have the opportunity to develop the skills necessary to thrive in college, ultimately building a sense of self efficacy and confidence in their academic abilities, which is vital for student success.
The emergence of the New Majority Learner presents both challenges and unparalleled opportunities for higher education. By embracing a holistic approach that equips, empowers, and encourages all learners, institutions can ensure that no student is left behind.
Investing in the success of these students through proactive, accessible design and the integration of empowering technology like Glean paves the way for a more equitable and effective learning experience for all.
It creates a strengthened campus community, fosters increased retention rates, and ultimately contributes to a more dynamic and skilled student body.
