How to Make Career Connections for Online Learners
Assuring positive career outcomes for college students is a growing priority for institutions, policymakers and students themselves as they consider the value of higher education. A July report from the Center for Higher Education Policy and Practice at Southern New Hampshire University identifies opportunities for institutions to enhance career readiness for online learners and nontraditional students, a growing demographic within undergraduate populations.
The report authors urge college leaders to consider the unique needs and circumstances of working and older students and to develop creative solutions to connect classroom and career learning.
What’s the need: Most students attend college to improve their economic circumstances or to secure employment, according to the report.
Risepoint’s Voice of the Online Learner survey for 2025 finds that majorities work full-time while pursuing a degree (75 percent), are enrolled in a program related to their current industry (78 percent) and are parents with children under the age of 18 (53 percent). The greatest share of students pay for college out of their income and savings (48 percent) or federal loans (41 percent).
However, not every student will participate in a work-based learning experience, and nontraditional students often face the biggest barriers to participation.
A 2024 Student Voice survey by Inside Higher Ed and Generation Lab found that 34 percent of respondents working more than 30 hours a week (n=1,106) said they have had no experience with the career center on their campus. Of that group, students 25 and older (n=501) were far more likely to say they hadn’t engaged with the career center (76 percent).
