Who Has the Advantage-Returning Older Students or New First-Time Students?

According to Psych 1001 Professor Anna Romero, PhD., there are a few distinct differences in the behavioral responses of "new" students and "old" students when exposed to the college environment. To clarify, by "new" students we mean more recent high school graduates. "Old" or "returning" students are older students returning to either achieve their first degree or oftentimes to renew or achieve a different degree.
According to Professor Romero, the first and foremost behavioral difference between the two types of students is social behavior. The "new" students are typically more sociable and less inhibited when participating in group discussion and activities. The "older" students tend to be more reclusive and, for the first few weeks at least, tend to participate less in classroom activities where peer-interaction is more involved.
The second and possibly more typical behavioral difference is in the students' classroom attendance, Romero explained. Oftentimes, the "newer," younger students take for granted the classroom lectures and take advantage of most professors' policies of "attendance non-required." The "older," usually more mature students will attend the majority of classes as they either have previous experience in how to succeed or not succeed in a collegiate environment.
It is statistically proven that attendance versus non-attendance greatly affects the success and therefore graduation rate of any given student. When "younger" students take attendance less seriously, due either to immaturity or false perceptions of college "requirements" (or both), they definitely suffer the consequences. "Older students" could be said to have a larger trend of classroom attendance than not, and therefore their established maturity-and understanding of how the collegiate environment works-is demonstrated.
Lastly is the difference in time-management ability of the "newer" student versus that of the "older" student. Oftentimes, Professor Romero explained, "newer" students are caught up in the "college life" of parties or extra-curriculars and perhaps may not properly manage their studying time as well as the "older," more mature students, who probably have jobs, maybe families and kids, which command most of their time outside of class. With the maturity often associated with age, "older" students also know they must take time to study or suffer the consequences.
Students straight out of high school usually go right into college either by urging of their parents (and their wallets), or to keep up with their peers. Older students usually have fought to make their re-try into college a reality, and therefore Romero says they are more likely to construct themselves a map of success via study time, classroom attendance, and overall attitude of "this is it, I am getting older, I need to make something of my life!"
I personally can speak to both of these points, both having been a "straight out of high schooler," as well as my current re-entry stemming from "I am 24. I cannot survive retail. I need to put my writing skills to use and get a degree, already!"
So, based on Professor Romero's years of observations through teaching students of all ages and my own previous experience as a younger, less-committed student and now taking flight once again with the flock, or rather re-introducing myself to the pride of the "Bearcats," we have collectively deduced that overall, the older student, on average does tend to possess the better set of skills for successful student-hood than does the average younger student. But this is based solely on observation and one student's experience and no scientific study was involved, so therefore no offense should be taken by any of it.