This is the time of year that students young and old have The Clash song "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" bouncing around their heads. They have experienced a few weeks of classes, professors, students, line-ups, and all the rest. They are now making decisions on whether to continue, to switch, or to bail out. For the younger set, it is frustrating. For mature students, it is nerve-wracking.

Most students are part of the herd: they are young and make up the majority of the student body, so universities, colleges, and other institutions are prepared for them. Then there are the rest of us -- the older ones who are often left to fend for themselves. Sure, they are entitled to the same services as everyone else, but is it enough?

From all over Canada, mature students have told me the same thing: "Can I do this? I don't know if I can do this." I tell them they can, of course. But life gets in the way sometimes. This is above the usual issues of confidence and the pressures of managing workloads and time. Where do they turn to for help? Is there a service or some personnel available to help older learners with their unique problems and at times outside the norm? Many institutions have something in place, many do not. If you are not familiar with your adult learners or you know they exist in significant numbers but have no services for them, ask yourself: why that is? Should you be doing something? Yes, you should. Yeah, but doing something else costs money. True, but doing nothing can increase your drop-out rate among one of your most reliable and successful demographics. You know this. If you do not, you should

I mentioned The Clash's famous song up front for good reason. Mature students are going through the big questions right now that will determine if they stay in school or pack up and go back to their lives before school. These mature students are bridging two or three universes. School is one, work and family are the others (and likely more). The latter two have become familiar, manageable, and are normal to other adults. Now, they have accessed a new universe -- school -- and there is a lot of friction between it and the old familiar ones. These adult learners are caught in the vortex and are trying to create a harmony between them so all universes can co-exist with the student as the particle that holds it all together.

The pressures can be intense, and are often quite different than those for the younger set. First, the other adults in the old familiar universes often do not understand why they need or want another universe in their life. They might even think harshly of this. If the students are lucky, they will get some support. With younger students, this same kind of universe is stressful, but really just an expansion of the universe they've occupied for most of their lives. Adult learners add this universe after a time away, sometimes a long time away, while others never really got to this universe before.

Should I stay or should I go?

Second, the new universe is strange, has many demands, and is loaded with black holes that suck up time, money, energy, and so forth from the other universes and it is likely voluntary. Mature students stepped into this universe willingly. Sometimes, it starts off well, other times, bad things happen. More on that in a moment.

Now, guilt enters the scene like a comet. It doesn't flash across the sky like a meteorite. It slowly, quietly creeps into view and can often dominate the sky. Guilty feelings about leaving the family in someone else’s care, even part time, have derailed many mature students.

Should I stay or should I go?

Then there are the chunks of rock that fall from the sky and create craters here and there -- some good, some bad, some of them huge. A child or parent becomes ill. A new child is expected. A parent, spouse, or child dies. Duty calls (military re-activation, executor of an estate, etc.).

Should I stay or should I go?

These are not necessarily alien to younger students, but they are not very common to the average teen-aged university student. They are, by degrees, common to most university students 30 and up. They can be deal breakers in the plans adult learners set for themselves. They may never return. I know. I have seen it happen to many really good students. I have been through some of those things myself. In 2004, I found myself out of work just as I was entering university life. Should I start or delay? I got a job and recovered. A few years later, I got caught in a round of layoffs. I was halfway through my studies. Now what? Should I stay or should I go? I got some work, then permanent work. This summer, just before I was to take some summer courses to speed things up, my mother was diagnosed with cancer. It was terminal and she was gone in six weeks. Disrupting my life is an understatement. School, work, volunteering, even this blog all got caught up in the vortex.

Should I stay or should I go?

I stayed, but things are still settling down. Life is normalizing again. Mom insisted I stay because we had enough time to discuss things like that. Others do not get that kind of luxury. After she passed, I did contemplate quitting or suspending things, but I stayed. I understood the pressures and could counsel students from experience on most things, except death of a close relative (it had been many years). I could not relate to the students on that subject. I can now.

However, for other mature students, the choice is to go. That is a shame. They lose out, but so do you as an institution. You lose a student - a good student - who offers a different perspective and set of experiences that often cannot be matched in the classroom environment.

The question now is what are you and your institutions doing to assist mature students get through these obstacles so that they can keep their universes in harmony and, therefore, keep themselves in school and on track? You do not necessarily have to build a dedicated service unit (though that would be nice), but you could do things like establish bridging programs, create or encourage the creation of peer groups and social groups for mature students, or simply train some key staffers to handle the unique needs of mature students (and have them available off the normal grid or timelines some of the time).

Will they stay or will they go?

That depends on what your institution is doing to help its mature students and whether it is enough.

Edward Fenner:

Edward Fenner is a mature student studying at York University. In 2004, he enrolled in the professional writing program in order to get a BA (Hons.) – after a career as an editor, writer, and publisher in the corporate sector for over 20 years. That same year, he founded YUMSO (York University Mature Students Organization) as an advocacy and social group. It was a runaway success and influential in raising the profile of mature students at York and in affecting policy changes. YUMSO has over 600 opt-in members to their e-newsletter, a website, a facebook site, and an office at Vanier College.

Edward volunteered over 1,500 hours in 4 years to his peers at York and was awarded the 2007 Deborah Hobson Award for Student Leadership by the university. As a student, Edward also revived York’s arts and literary journal Existere, where he volunteers as a student mentor. YorkU magazine made Edward its cover story in April 2008.

Edward now works at York in the Office of the Associate Vice-president International where he helps with various communications and edits e-MAGINED (The Canadian e-Magazine for International Education).