Introduction
In the recent years, there has been a rise in the number of adult students on college campuses, pursuing undergraduate, and filling the seats hitherto occupied 18-22-year olds. (Donald & Townsend, 2011). Donald & Townsend (2011) asserts that a greater proportion of the adult students pursue the education on a part-time basis. Indeed, in the four-year universities and colleges, there are quite a small number of full-time adult students (Donald & Townsend, 2011).
The interest of this research is the small number of full-time adult students at the colleges/universities. There is the possibility that this group of undergraduate students will continue growing numerically. There have been fluctuations in the economy, and, apparently, the number of full-time undergraduate students has been responding to those economic fluctuations. As the unemployment figures rise, and the job opportunities decline in the country, the number of full-time adult students at the universities and colleges also swells. Other factors leading to the rise include:
• The need to develop new skills
• Early retirement from a former job arising from the need to pursue a different career.
The Purpose of the Study
This study is inspired by the need to learn about full-time adult undergraduate students, their experiences, circumstances and what their social world looks like. The study will focus on selected full-time adult undergraduates at Central College in the 2009/10 and 2010/11 academic years.
Research Questions
The central questions that this study will attempt to answer include:
• Who are the adult students?
• Why are they in college?
• How has being a full-time undergraduate student impacted their lives?
• What support do they get from friends and family
• What types of social networks or social groups have they developed as full-time adult undergraduates?
Significance of the Study (or Rationale)
This study will examine various issues surrounding the adult education. Some of these issues include how the life experiences of the adult learners have contributed to their decision to enroll for education, and their learning needs. Some basic issues will be examined as well, such as the nature of higher education and the role the educational institutions play in the communities and societies hosting them.
Nature and Limitations of the Study (optional)
This study will assume a qualitative research approach, which employs semi-structured interviews as the primary method. There will be a preliminary description of the experiences and perceptions of full-time adult undergraduates. The study will be limited to up to 30 subjects at Central College, which is a four-year higher educational institution. The limitation will be due to time constraints involved in the interviews and the data analysis.
Methodology
This study will be best served by a qualitative research approach. Phenomenology is a common theoretical perspective of a qualitative research approach (Bogdan & Biklen, 2012). The phenomenological nature of a qualitative research approach is what makes it possible to understand a lot of issues in the society, such as societal events, and human interactions as well.
Data collected in a qualitative study is never just words, but also feelings, vocal expressions, facial expressions, attitudes and loads of other behaviors. For this study, there will be interview transcripts, field notes on observable features and characteristics, memoranda, historical documents and records, all of which will be rigorously analyzed. Once collected, the data will be coded and analyzed.
Target Population
All along, Central College has traditionally been a liberal arts college which prepares students (irrespective of age) for careers in various arts fields. However, only 18-22-year olds have traditionally been served on a full-time basis. The past few years have seen a few students aged 25 years and older enrolled as full-time undergraduates. This study will seek to study the full-time undergraduates aged 25 years and over with special attention to their social world and the factors affecting their interactions. A sample space of no more than thirty students will be convenient for the study.
Research Design and Procedures
For this study, a qualitative research design is proposed to effectively study the social world of the selected full-time adult undergraduates. Semi-structured interviews will be used primarily, with the interviews set to commence in the summer of 2015. The interviews will start with unstructured questions such as, how has being a full-time adult undergraduate at Central College impacted your life? There will be up to 30 study subjects, so a maximum of 30 interviews will be completed. All the interviews will be tape-recorded, with each lasting between 45 minutes and 1 and three quarter hours. The interviews will be open-ended and informal. About a dozen of follow-up interviews will be conducted during summer of 2016.
The researcher will write filed notes on the interviews, observations, follow-up interviews, other casual meetings with the subjects. The researcher will also write memoranda typing the interview transcripts, reflecting upon any one of the interviews, and listening to the taped interviews. All the taped interviews, field notes and memoranda will be stored in a computer file.

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