50 Unique Colleges Every Non Traditional Student Should Consider

When it comes to getting an education, not all colleges are created equal, especially if you’re a non-traditional student or someone looking for a college experience that’s outside of the norm. While there are hundreds of brick-and-mortar and online colleges to choose from, finding one that meets your particular needs can be a challenge. You can tackle that challenge more easily by focusing on colleges that provide a unique educational experience or that cater specifically to non-traditional students. Here, we’ve put together a list of colleges that fit that bill, offering alternative course structures, work-study programs, flexible hours, independent study, and a wide range of other unique and adaptable aspects that can be a big help for the non-traditional student trying to fit college into an already busy life or career. Not every college listed here will be right for you, but we hope to give prospective students an idea of the scope of programs and opportunities out there, with something to meet the needs of just about every kind of learner.

Alternative Approaches

These great colleges take a different approach to higher education, often with some striking results.

1. Evergreen State College: If you’re looking for a school that offers loads of academic freedom, then Evergreen State might just be the place for you. The experimental and non-traditional school focuses on interdisciplinary courses, doesn’t issue letter grades, and offers loads of support for first-year students.
2. College of the Atlantic: At this Maine college, students don’t get a choice of major, there is only one option: human ecology. The school’s faculty members are experts in the field (though there are no official departments at the school, all lessons are considered interdisciplinary) and students take an assortment of history, writing, and math classes to help them complete a large-scale project on a topic of their choosing before they graduate.
3. Goucher College: Students at Goucher must complete at least one study abroad experience and/or an off-campus internship, helping blend class education with real-world experience.
4. Naropa University: Want college to be more Zen-like and less stressful? You may want to check out this Boulder, Colo., school. Founded by a Tibetan Buddhist teacher (and Oxford scholar), the school is inspired by Buddhist teaching but is strictly nonsectarian. Students can take psychology courses that incorporate meditation, head to the famous Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics, or choose from a wide range of other unique majors.
5. Wesleyan University: There are few schools that offer as many different and often widely varied courses as Wesleyan. Even better, there are no required courses, students are encouraged to do independent study, and stress is put on “essential capabilities,” not gen eds.
6. St. John’s College: Students can take courses at St. John’s through two campuses, one in Maryland and one in New Mexico, but the experience at each is likely very similar. Why? Students at the school must follow a very strict core curriculum that examines the great books of Western culture, requires that students learn Greek and French, and structures all courses around discussion, not homework.
7. Antioch College: Courses at Antioch are focused around three key areas: classroom, co-op, and community. Students must not only complete their coursework but must also engage in practical work experience and participate in student government.
8. Alverno College: Forget about grades and standard assessments at this Milwaukee school. Instead, students are subjected to personal assessment and measurement based on eight cornerstone concepts including: communication, analysis, problem solving, valuing in decision making, social interaction, developing a global perspective, effective citizenship, and aesthetic engagement.
9. Olin College: Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering offers a select group of engineering students the chance to get an excellent and cheap education (all students get a half-scholarship). The school takes a different approach to teaching engineering, doing away with academic departments and majors and creating a project-based curriculum.
10. Berea College: This Kentucky school was the first interracial and coed school in the South, and is continuing its socially progressive attitude today. The school is committed to green issues and charges no tuition in exchange for 10 hours of work a week from students.
11. Deep Springs College: Just for male students, this two-year school employs only three full-time professors, which is all they need for their class of only 26 students. There is no tuition and students live full-time on a cattle ranch and alfalfa farm in California, taking academic courses while learning about subjects like stargazing, knitting, and bread making.
12. Reed College: Reed College provides one of the most rigorous academic experiences of any college in the United States, requiring every senior to produce a thesis. Something must be working at the school as it has produced six Fulbright fellows, 104 National Science Foundation fellows, two Pulitzer Prize winners, 31 Rhodes Scholars, and two MacArthur Genius Award winners.
13. UC Santa Cruz: For most of its history, students at UCSC didn’t earn a letter grade, instead getting narrative evaluations. While letter grades are required today, the school still places heavy emphasis on the written evaluations, which can give much more detailed feedback on student performance than any one letter grade.
14. Grinnell College: At Grinnell, students must follow the motto, “service before self.” The school boasts the highest rate of Peace Corps volunteers of any college in the nation. It also has an impressive 10 to 1 student to faculty ratio.
15. Mount Holyoke College: This women-only college in Massachusetts (the first women’s college in the U.S.) offers an incredibly rigorous academic program that has proven especially beneficial historically for female writers.
16. Earlham College: At this tiny liberal arts college, students spend as much time learning how to be better people as trying to get a high-paying job. Inspired by Quaker teachings, everyone at the school addresses each other by first names and personal contact and interaction is considered essential. Additionally, most students study abroad and the school is the most diverse in the nation.
17. Maharishi University of Management: Maharishi University offers students who want to get an MBA a chance to do so in a consciousness-focused environment. All meals on campus are vegetarian, sustainability is promoted, meditation is offered on campus, and students take only one full-time course per month.
18. Green Mountain College: Green Mountain College is unique in a number of respects. The college offers a four-year guarantee, promising that students will complete their studies in four years or fewer. Additionally, the school has a strong environmental mission, requiring all students to complete a 37-credit Environmental Liberal Arts General Education Program.
19. Whitman College: Originally founded as a seminary school, this Washington school became a four-year degree-granting institution all the way back in 1883. It’s still not quite the usual college, however, as it requires passing comprehensive examinations in order for students to graduate.
20. Beloit College: At Beloit College, students will receive an education that’s focused on experiential learning, learner agency, and reflective connection-making between out-of-classroom and in-classroom learning experiences, essentially asking students to put what they learn into practice before they ever graduate.
21. Austin College: If study abroad is your goal, then Austin College might be a great choice for you. More than 70% of students study abroad during their four years at the school. Additionally, the school boasts a 13 to 1 student to faculty ratio and has no teaching assistants so all classes are taught by full faculty members.
22. Allegheny College: A small school of just over 2,000 students, Allegheny College stands out in that it requires students to choose a minor as well as a major, often encouraging unusual combinations and mandating that all minors be in a different division than a student’s major. If a major is in the humanities, for instance, a minor must be in the sciences and vice versa.
23. St. Olaf College: St. Olaf makes sure that all of its students have a strong foundation by requiring them to complete nearly 20 different required courses. It also boasts an impressive study abroad program and sends more students abroad than nearly any other school in the U.S.
24. Rhodes College: Education at Rhodes centers on small classes and places great emphasis on writing and research. Students are encouraged to participate both in service activities and in off-campus research programs.

Taken From Best Colleges Online