| Summary: | In recent years, the official policy in Iceland as well as in Europe has been to widen participation of students from diverse social and economic groups in higher education. At the University of Iceland School of Education, most programs are offered both as traditional on-campus courses or as online studies with face-to-face sessions. Online learning has facilitated access for diverse groups of students, enabling people to pursue university studies along with work and family obligations.Students who have reached the age of 25 when they start university are often considered non-traditional students; they are more likely to have children and families and to have entered the labour market, compared to traditional students. The reasons why people start university late in life are usually related to social and economic status and many are the first in their family to attend university. Starting university later in life can be linked to financial circumstances but also to the incentive and even pressure to go to university, this being stronger in families where there is a tradition of completing university studies. Students who are the first in their family to go to university have less support than those who have parents with university education. Universities need to consider how to accommodate their needs and ease their transition into university life since commitments due to family and paid work can affect academic progress and increase the likelihood of dropping out. Also, it may be more difficult for students to build on previous studies if they have taken a long break from studying before entering higher education. Clearly many things make the position of these students different from those considered traditional students. Increasing diversity in the student population by widening access to university not only entails admitting students with non-traditional backgrounds but also an institutional willingness and ability to consider their circumstances.The aim of this study was to investigate how various factors ...
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