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Almost any college faculty member will tell you that the maturity, work ethic, and experience non-traditional (adult) students bring to the classroom (online or on-campus) make them likely to be higher-achievers than students of traditional college age.

So, what challenges are most difficult for them?

It is not always easy to divide one's week so that career, family, and education all get the time they require. And, while students in online degree programs have more flexibility than those attending on-campus classes on a fixed schedule, they still face the pressures of keeping up with readings and other assignments.

Obviously, self-discipline and the ability to manage time, two things important to all students, are even more critical to adults juggling multiple responsibilities.

Even people who manage their time well and are high-achievers may be unaware of a simple but highly effective tactic which can lead to higher grades.

It would be nice to be able to add hours to your days or days to your weeks. But, although that is not possible, finding unused fifteen minute periods of time is not. And, if you can find and use just two such periods each day, the result is three and a half hours a week...nearly fifteen hours a month...of additional time devoted to your studies.

What can you accomplish in fifteen minutes? You can read and/or revise a few pages of notes, reread a passage that is important or difficult, put together a study schedule for the week, begin or continue an outline for a paper, email a member of your study group, email a question to one of your professors, or do some research online.

You can do significant work in fifteen minutes. And, you can "manufacture" fifteen minute blocks of time by postponing your bedtime, awakening a bit earlier, shortening the time you spend eating lunch, or reading a bit before leaving your office at the end of your work day. The possibilities are nearly limitless.

A perennial Dean's List student I know, who is in the Honor's Program at a major university, sits down to between fifteen and thirty minutes of study whenever she returns to her apartment. No matter where she has been or for how long, she never makes an exception. And, nobody remembers the last time (if ever) she earned a final grade below an "A".

It doesn't matter how busy someone is, they can find two additional fifteen minute blocks of time to devote to their pursuit of higher education. And, that half hour a day can make anyone a far more successful student.