The profile of "nontraditional" students remains unclear because of their diversity, including their wide age range and the limited amount of contact they typically have with the campus as part-time students. There is concern among some that this group of students includes individuals who may have been convicted of more serious offenses than offenders among traditional-age students. The statistical profile of the "traditional" student is drawn from large data sets such as longitudinal surveys and reports of various agencies. The data show a dynamic picture of students coming to campus from school and societal settings increasingly steeped in a rising tide of crime and violence that pervades schools and neighborhoods across the Nation. The incidence of the experience of violence in society is age-related and is especially prevalent among youths of high-school and college age. Although research has not yet established a cause-and-effect relationship between the increase in violence in K-12 schools and concurrent increases in violence on college campuses, such a link can be presumed. 10 tables and 35 references