Non-traditional Academic Paths Lead to Change

October 6, 2021 Maren G. Rosenbach, MSL

October 1, 2021 | Maren G. Rosenbach, MSL (she/her/hers) | Co-founder & Chief Compliance Officer

My choice to help build Wright University stems from my experience in a system that was not built for me – academia. I believe that education is a human right and that the systems in place, then and now, do not work equitably for everyone.

My college career began in a prescribed way. I graduated high school in New Jersey, packed up my childhood room, said goodbye to my high school sweetheart, and moved across the country to attend Arizona State University as a Nursing major. I had earned 12 credits in my first semester when my personal life pulled me onto an academically non-traditional path. Although I had loved ASU, I decided to briefly pause my education to start a family with said high school sweetheart and now husband.

Credits taken: 12
Credits accepted: 12

A little over a year after leaving ASU, with a seven-month-old, I enrolled in a night class at the local community college in Florida where my husband, now in the U.S. Navy, was stationed. He could take classes anywhere as long as they were college level. This policy catered to his frequent changes in duty stations but made my “traditional” commitment to one four-year institution difficult. My only option was to matriculate through higher education programs as a transfer student.

Credits taken: 15
Credits accepted: 12

At best, we got a few weeks of notice about my husband’s transfers. We moved duty stations from Florida to Pennsylvania in September, missing registration for the fall semester.

Most four-year colleges in the area had lengthy application processes and cost more than a young family could afford; so, I transferred to another community college. They offered a two-year nursing program in conjunction with a local Catholic hospital, preparing me to sit for State boards and practice clinically. I would earn a Diploma of Nursing from the hospital and an Associates of Science from the community college. The transfer credit evaluation of my previous 15 credits accepted only 6. I took 16 credits that semester to try to “catch up” once again.

Credits taken: 31
Credits accepted: 22

The next semester the program moved to another local community school. This new school would grant me an Associate of Science and Liberal Arts, making it easier and less costly to transfer to a four-year degree in the future, but I had to transfer again. They accepted 13 credits. I was able to challenge their refusal of my past ENG 102 credit by paying to take a CLEP ENG 102 exam, which I passed, upping my accepted transfer credits to 16.

Credits taken: 31
Credits accepted: 16

After four years as a Navy wife, I finally earned my two-year Associate of Science/Liberal Arts, my Diploma of Nursing, and sat for State Boards to become a Registered Nurse.

Credits taken: 91
Credits accepted: 71
Institutions attended: 5

My husband earned his bachelor’s degree a year after his honorable discharge with zero debt and little out of our pocket because of his GI Bill and other Navy assistance programs. He was able to transfer military certifications to college credit and take distance-learning courses that were available only to active-duty service members. His total credit count: 120. Total institutions attended, including the Navy, which awarded him credits: 3.

There is much more to my story that I will share as Wright U’s journey carries on, but I want our community to know a piece of my non-traditional journey that led me to co-found WU. I have attended multiple institutions that claimed although they had not been built for me, they had evolved to serve me. These evolutions were marketed as inclusion, diversity, and equality initiatives. Yet, non-traditional paths still had inequitable outcomes compared to traditional routes. This is why I chose to co-found Wright University. The non-traditional path is not the problem; the system is. All students need equitable access to education that works for them.