Mary Dixon: When you picture a college student, you probably imagine a fresh faced 18-year-old whose parents moved them into their dorm room. But nearly a third of Illinois college students are 25 or older. They may be raising children and holding down full-time jobs while taking classes. More than half of these students drop out, according to national data. WBEZ’s Lisa Philip stepped into the life of one student who is making it.

Lisa Philip: Every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon, Stephanie Quintana dashes out of her office in the Loop and speedwalks to her Nissan a couple blocks away.

Stephanie Quintana: I'm gonna drive safe today, because you're in the car.

Lisa Philip: Her college class on the Far Northwest side starts at 4:15 PM.

Stephanie Quintana: I still have to use GPS every time I do this.

Lisa Philip: Quintana works for the City of Chicago’s health department. The earliest she can start work is 7:30 AM, so she can’t leave until 3:30 PM. And traffic on 90-94 is moving slow today.

Stephanie Quintana: Is it saying when we'll get there? Oh my god! 4:35, now. If my teacher was not flexible or understanding, I would have definitely never been able to pass this class.

Lisa Philip: After an hour in the car, Quintana pulls into the parking lot at Northeastern Illinois University. The 30-year-old transferred there last year. That’s after she tried for many years to finish a bachelor’s degree at University of Illinois Chicago.

Stephanie Quintana: As soon as I had my daughter it was like, I need to go to college, I need to finish college.

Lisa Philip: She wanted to earn a better salary to provide for her kids. She even joined the Navy to help pay her tuition.

Stephanie Quintana: It’s definitely been a lot of roller coasters and struggles.

Lisa Philip: A class she needed for her communications degree at UIC was only offered during the day, when she works. She kept missing it. Her professor told her…

Stephanie Quintana: You knew what the class schedule was when you registered, you shouldn't have registered for the class. Fair. But it's a required class. So I had no other choice.

Lisa Philip: Older students like Stephanie often don’t graduate. Northeastern is the rare university set up to help them succeed. Four in ten students at the school are over 25. But in recent years, support services at the North Park campus have been threatened by declining enrollment and budget cuts. Still, Quintana’s found the help she needs. Her faculty advisor responds to her questions at all hours. Many classes are offered after the work day. And there’s a lot of freedom in course selection, which has allowed Quintana to find classes that fit her busy schedule. Like the costume design class she’s darting into.

Professor: We've got literally less than a minute left on this drawing.

Lisa Philip: Students are seated around a mannequin draped in cream-colored fabric, sketching. Quintana’s late arrival doesn’t seem to phase her professor. She takes a seat, pulls out a sheet of paper, and quickly draws some lines.

Stephanie Quintana: I’m trying. I was really impressed that you popped off that little. You had like 30 seconds or whatever to draw that.

Lisa Philip: The understanding this professor shows is not uncommon at Northeastern. Faculty know their students are working and have many obligations competing for their time. A couple of weeks ago, Quintana got behind on an assignment. She reached out to her professor.

Stephanie Quintana: Her response was, I have I have a child. I know how life can be. Get it to me by Tuesday, and I'm like, Oh my god! That would have never been allowed at UIC.

Lisa Philip: At 5:30, costume design wraps up. Quintana heads back to her car.

Stephanie Quintana: I'm starting to get sleepy now that that drive was so stressful. I'm crashing. On the way here that adrenaline is just pumping.

Lisa Philip: And her day isn’t over. Quintana has another class, online, from 7:15 to 9:40 PM. She drives to her apartment in Roscoe Village. She checks her mail and walks her golden retriever. She calls her ex-husband to make sure he drops off her daughter and son, Jaylani and Nova, before her class starts. The two have a lot to say about their mom being in school.

Jaylani : Annoying.

Nova: Yeah. Yeah, because some of her classes are three hours long.

Jaylani: Oh, yeah, that part that part when it goes to 9:30 PM is so overwhelming because how can she deal with that?

Lisa Philip: Jaylani comes back a couple minutes later and adds:

Jaylani: I like my mom doing classes, because I know that's what she likes and dreams for, because she's always wanted to do classes and pursue what... I don't know what she does, but whatever she does. Uh, let’s hope she doesn't hear that.

Lisa Philip: The middle schooler heads to her room to do homework. Quintana settles into a corner of her sectional and opens up her laptop. Her class on American film history is starting.

Stephanie Quintana: I think we're in the 1970s for this one.

Lisa Philip: Quintana points out other students on the screen: a retired veteran, a mom raising a child with autism. Unlike most of her classmates at UIC, she says, these students don’t have time for extracurriculars. When they’re not in class, they are working or taking care of elders or children. Being around students like these has given her a sense of belonging.

Stephanie Quintana: Because I'll be honest, I felt so discouraged. There's times where I felt like yeah, I'm just not going to get through this. This is not manageable. I can't do it. But when I came to Northeastern, I haven’t failed class. I haven’t had to withdraw. I haven’t even had to think about that.

Lisa Philip: As class goes on, Quintana’s son Nova gets restless and rides his scooter around the dining room. Their golden retriever, Stella, steals Jaylani’s shoe. Even though she’s in class, Quintana still has to parent.

Stephanie Quintana: It's time for bed seriously! Now, I'm tired.

Lisa Philip: As exhausted as she is, Quintana is grateful for Northeastern, and for this class. It brings her one step closer to graduating in May and earning a better salary to support her family. And despite the headache of juggling classes and work and her kids, she plans to start a graduate program at DePaul University this summer. Lisa Philip, WBEZ news.