You have expectations
as you register for and take classes,
as well as work through your program in higher education.
Higher education also has expectations of you!
It has its own rules, patterns, and culture. There are important differences between private and public schools, community colleges and universities, liberal arts and research institutions, graduate schools, etc.

Key concepts in higher education
include disciplines/departments, scholarship, research, verbal orientation, tenure, collegiality, academic freedom, etc. Take time to understand the culture of higher education.

Significant groups include faculty and students,
administrators and trustees, alumni, and even larger communities and legislators. They all are important resources. Staff also are there to help you, and wait for you to appear so that their services and centers can help you succeed.

Do you wonder about your skills
in finding your way around this strange land of higher education?

As an adult learner, you

tend to be self-directed
have a rich reservoir of experience that can serve as a resource for learning
are frequently affected by your need to know or do something
tend to have a life-, task-, or problem-centered orientation to learning
as opposed to a subject-matter orientation
are generally motivated to learn from within (internally/intrinsically)
as opposed to being obligated, or subject to, external or extrinsic forces
adapted from
Imel, Susan, Guidelines for Working with Adult Learners.
ERIC Digest No. 154 ERIC Identifier: ED377313, 1994-00-00
Adult learners, as they return to, and progress through their education,
often question and reevaluate their original assumptions and motivation
as they use education to re-create their lives.

As such, your learning will be more successful if you

Take an active role
in planning, monitoring, and evaluating your education
Discard preconceived notions
about what college is and isn't; open your mind to the experience
Choose subjects and courses that
are most relevant to your job/profession or personal life
that fit into your academic program