That ‘That Degree has to Wait’: A Case Study of Distance Education Adult Students in Malaysia

Obtaining a bachelor’s degree is often conceived as the ultimate goal for post-secondary and diploma students. However, this goal is not always immediately available or accessible for students. Delays in higher education enrolment have considerable disadvantages for students as they are often associated with lower graduation rates and lower socio-economic status. This paper seeks to identify the reasons why students delay their bachelor’s degree enrolment. Adult students currently pursuing higher education or recently graduated from higher education and who have had a gap between their post-secondary/diploma and higher education were recruited as the respondents for this study. The research adopted a qualitative approach using the in-depth interview as a research instrument. Twelve adult learners were identified and interviewed for this study. Data collected were analysed using Nvivo version 12. The analysis revealed three main rationales as causes of delayed enrolment in higher education. The rationales were financial, family and work reasons. Of these three, financial reasons were the main rationale behind the delay of academic enrolment and subsequent attainment. It was further found that these reasons were not a stand-alone cause as they were linked with other rationales in contributing to the students’ decision to delay their higher education enrolment.   Keywords: Adult students, Delayed academic enrolment, Distance education, Higher education, Qualitative