In recent years, the median age of the college student has shifted dramatically upward so that higher education now serves a more age-diversified population. This phenomenon has vast implications for both student affairs professionals and faculty who are involved in counseling and advising students. College counselors must redefine their roles and recognize adult students as individuals facing very different developmental tasks from the traditional college-age students. Counselors must review psychosocial development theory, cognitive development theory, and empirical evidence to explore the differences between the traditional college-age student and the adult student. The use of life cycle theory in developmental counseling permits counselors to construct a conceptual framework from which they can better serve all students, regardless of age. Counseling approaches and techniques may have to be modified to serve adult students, who have diverse anxieties, concerns, expectations and educational goals. The visibility of developmental counseling services must be increased. College counselors must respond to these challenges through a sound understanding of adults' growth and development and the influences their educational institutions exercise on this growth process. (Author/NRB)