The increase in the number of adults returning to complete their university education as ‘non-traditional students’ brings more attention to the challenges of a standard degree format. This paper examines the experiences of seven non-traditional students undergoing a cooperative education programme in Singapore, where students would alternate spending a few days in a week at a university while working full-time for the remaining days, in relation to the challenges and opportunities of the programme. Using qualitative thematic analysis, we discovered four themes greatly affected by the programme design – motivations for enrolling, transferability of knowledge, work–study balance and coping mechanisms. Overall, some obstacles hindering adults from continuing education were addressed by this cooperative education programme. The strong integration of work and study roles ensured that adults did not need to leave their job before starting university, reducing time and money-related pressures while increasing their commitment level to education. Additionally, rigid institutional practices were mitigated by the flexibility given by teaching faculty and work supervisors. We suggested several improvements to better suit the rising number of adults wanting to attain a degree. With the research results and recommendations proposed herein, this paper is useful to various universities willing to adopt cooperative education.

以“非传统学生”身份返回完成大学教育的成年人数量的增加使人们更加关注标准学位形式的挑战。本文考察了七名在新加坡接受合作教育计划的非传统学生的经历，在该计划中，学生将在一周内轮流在大学度过几天，而在剩余的日子里全职工作，以应对挑战和机遇的程序。通过定性主题分析，我们发现了受课程设计影响很大的四个主题——入学动机、知识的可转移性、工作与学习的平衡和应对机制。总体而言，该合作教育计划解决了阻碍成年人继续教育的一些障碍。工作和学习角色的紧密结合确保了成年人在上大学之前不需要离职，减少了与时间和金钱相关的压力，同时提高了他们对教育的承诺水平。此外，教师和工作主管给予的灵活性减轻了僵化的制度实践。我们提出了一些改进建议，以更好地适应越来越多的想要获得学位的成年人。结合本文提出的研究结果和建议，本文对愿意采用合作办学的各大学有所帮助。教师和工作主管给予的灵活性减轻了僵化的制度做法。我们提出了一些改进建议，以更好地适应越来越多的想要获得学位的成年人。结合本文提出的研究结果和建议，本文对愿意采用合作办学的各大学有所帮助。教师和工作主管给予的灵活性减轻了僵化的制度做法。我们提出了一些改进建议，以更好地适应越来越多的想要获得学位的成年人。结合本文提出的研究结果和建议，本文对愿意采用合作办学的各大学有所帮助。