In recent years, the official policy in Iceland as well as in Europe has been to increase the proportion of university graduates in the population by widening participation of students from diverse social and economic groups in higher education. The aim is to have a student population that represents the diversity of each society. At the University of Iceland School of Education most study programs are offered both as traditional on-campus courses or as a blend of online education and obligatory face-to-face sessions, usually two weeks per semester. Online learning has been shown to facilitate access for diverse groups of students, enabling people to pursue university studies along with work and family obligations (Jóhannsdóttir & Björnsdóttir, 2020).

Students who have reached the age of 25 when they start university are often called non-traditional students. They are different from other students in that they are more likely to have children and families and to have experience in the labour market when they start studying. The reasons why people start university late are often related to social and economic status and many are the first in their family to attend university (Delaney and Farren, 2016; Hauschildt et al., 2021; Ives and Castillo-Montoya, 2020). Starting university later in life can be linked to financial circumstances but also to the incentive and even pressure to go to university, which is often stronger in families where there is a tradition of completing university studies. Research has shown that students who are the first in their family to go to university do not have the same support as those who have parents with university education (Delaney and Brown, 2018; Hauschildt et al., 2021). Higher education institutions need to consider how to accommodate the needs of non-traditional students and ease their transition into university life (Hauschildt et al., 2021; Ives and Castillo-Montoya, 2020). Commitments due to family and paid work can affect academic progress and increase the likelihood of dropping out (Delaney, 2015; Hauschildt et al., 2021) and it can make it more difficult for students to build on previous studies if they have taken a long break from studying before entering higher education. There are therefore many things that make the position of these older students different from those who are considered in the group of traditional students. With diversity in the student population comes challenges and as Levin (2007) has pointed out, providing access to university education not only entails admitting students with non-traditional backgrounds but also an institutional willingness and ability to consider their circumstances.

The aim of this study is to investigate the diversity of the student groups in undergraduate studies at the School of Education and determine whether there is a difference depending on their fields of study, e.g., in terms of factors that have been linked to higher drop-out rates and slower academic progress, such as age, class status, study alongside work, and family circumstances. Another aim is to examine how these factors in addition to residence in rural areas are related to the choice of study form, i.e., online learning or on-campus learning.

The participants were undergraduate students in six fields of study at the University of Iceland, School of Education, during fall semester 2020 (N = 460). Most participants were women, or over 82%; almost 44% of participants were first year students and about 28% were in their third year of study or had been studying longer. Almost 60% said that they had intended to enrol in traditional on-campus courses, just over a quarter in online learning and 9% in mixed learning; that is, enrolling in both on-campus and online learning as appropriate. Data was collected using online questionnaires and participants answered questions about their field of study, age, marital status, number of children and if they were working alongside their studies. In addition, they were asked about their parents' education and whether they intended to attend traditional on-campus or online learning. Odds ratio and binary logistic regression were used to test the relationship between background variables and the outcome to choose to enrol as online students.

Many non-traditional students are studying at the School of Education. 68% of participants were either married, cohabiting or single parents. 36% of participants had children, 75% planned to work while studying and 22% planned to work more than 30 hours per week. Half had neither parent with university education. The student group differed depending on study field. Students in preschool teacher education and social pedagogy were older, more likely to have parents without university education and worked more alongside their studies than students in other fields of study. Students in sports and health sciences and leisure studies were younger, more likely to have parents with university degrees and worked less. The older students and those who worked more than 30 hours per week were more likely to prefer the online mode. Students who had parents without a university education were also more likely to prefer the online mode compared to students who had parents with a university education. Those who lived outside the capital area preferred the online mode of study. Online education enables a large group of non-traditional students to pursue university studies. Particular attention needs to be paid to student support in study programs where the proportion of non-traditional students is high and that the organization of the study program needs to suit their circumstances (European Commission, 2017) and this applies, for example, to studies in preschool teacher education and social pedagogy. The University of Iceland's (2021) strategy for 2026 focuses on increasing the diversity of the student body. In Iceland there are various groups who have not had the opportunity to pursue higher education and our results indicate that for those groups, online learning should be considered the key to accessing university studies.

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