Education as Feminism for Nontraditional Aged Women Receiving Pell Grants

This study centers the experiences of nontraditional aged women who are 24 or older and the usefulness of Pell Grant funding to increase outcomes for attainment at the certificate, bachelor’s, and associate’s degree level in higher education. Critical feminist policy analysis guided the research structure, centering of women, and recommendations for policy guided by the results of the research. Using data from the Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Survey 2004/09, a secondary data analysis was completed to better understand factors influencing attainment, particularly for nontraditional age women. Through the use of descriptive statistics, ordered and multinomial logistic regression, and estimations of predicted probabilities, it was found that nontraditional students have less favorable outcomes for attainment, compared to traditional 18-23 year old students. Women and those receiving Pell Grant funds totaling $18,000 and above, however, had higher attainment outcomes compared to men and those with lower Pell Grant amounts, making a case for the merits of protecting and retaining federal aid funding to enhance low-income, nontraditional aged women’s chances of completing postsecondary degrees.