Adult learners

An increase in the number of older, more serious minded college students may serve to explain an increase in high grades at some institutions. A positive correlation exists between age and grades (Kwon, Kendig, and Bae, 1997); student age is a positive predictor of student GPA (Olsen, 1997). Too, many of these mature students are over-achievers and will drop a course rather than accept a grade of B (Hultgren, 1994).