Going back to school later in life.

[Gardening Grandma]

I was in my mid 40's when I went back to school to finish my bachelors. As "ancient" as I was, it opened doors. In my 50's I got a master's and am glad I did.

I have a neighbor in her 80's who is working on her PhD.....

[lulubean]

Dh just got his BS at the end of 2010 and he was 40. He started CC then onto UF, he sometimes took 3 classes a term but mostly two. He also had a full time job making over 6 figures with lots of responsibilty. But he is glad to be finished. Now he want to get his MBA.

[Poppet]

Umm, "old" people at college is so common.

At 31 (when you graduate) you're not as unique as you think. Forget the age worry and get on with your education.

The idea nowadays is that you're always learning and you're never too old to attend college. This notion, which is a good one for a change, is a great way for the colleges to get more money via more students and for non-traditional folks to keep on learning whether for fun or career.

I attended college from age 36 to 41 and I was never the oldest in class except for an anthropology lab. In one math class I had a 61 yr old classmate who was a retired homicide cop. Fun to talk to. And the college paper interviewed the oldest student on campus. She was in her 90s so she pretty much trumps us all.

Go for it. Stop worrying.

[Deleted]

I was the 22 year old graduate student... and I have the mountain of student loans to show for it.

Now, I am the "ancient" graduate student. I can relate my work experience to the content of my classes - since I actually have work experience. And this time around, I can afford to go without loans.

I gotta be honest, I feel way smarter than my younger classmates who I know are accruing even more debt than I did.

You should go.

[swamp]

I graduated from law school in 1995, and there were plenty of 30 somethings in my class.

DH was working as an optician when we started dating, and it's kind of a dead end career. At 27, he went back to school full time to get his BS with the intention of going to medical school. Med school didn't pan out because of low MCAT's, but he finished his BS in Biology and then went to Pharmacy school, graduating in 2002 at that age of 32. Best move he ever made. He's in a much more lucrative career that he likes better.

[Mardi Gras Audrey]

Go for it phenoix! I am currently in school to get my Doctorate. I started at age 31. We have people in our class who are in their late 30s and early 40s. We have people who are married with children also. We won't finish for another 3 years so we will be 30s-40s when we graduate. 28 is not old.... you can do it!

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

I really thought you were going to be talking about someone else since I knew you are younger than I am.

I finished my AA at 21.
I finished my BS at 24.
I finished my MA at 25.
At 31, I have 15 credits past my Master's and am about to start a 26-credit progam for an additional certification.
After that certification, I plan to start my doctorate in educational leadership. My goal is to be done with that by my 40th birthday.

My husband finished his Master's when he was 42. It cost about $20,000. He immediately got a new job and got a $22,000 salary increase. Five years later he is making $40,000 more than if he'd stopped with the Bachelor's.

Go to school!!! ;D

[Deleted]

On the assumption that you will work until 65, you have 37 years of work life left. How will you feel having doors closed to you for 34 years because you did not go back to school?

[debtheaven]

Education is forever. A lot of things wear out or break down, but that degree, and that investment in yourself, is forever.

I'm 51 (around your mom's age, probably older). I just got hired for a FABULOUS new teaching job for September, partly on the strength of my degrees. My degrees are prestigious. But they are OLD, and not in education. At least my degrees helped me get my foot in the door, get interviewed, etc.

I thanked my late Dad once again (because he paid for my BA and my MS). Last week's job offer just confirms that the benefits of education really do carry on throughout one's life. I would never have thought they would matter at this stage of my life, but visibly, they do. When I left my journalism job nearly 2.5 years ago and took a year off and then reincarnated myself as an English teacher, I thought that I'd just limp along trying to make a living teaching until I could afford to retire.

Then I got my university job. I loved them and they loved me. But sadly they decided to close the Paris campus at the end of this school year and export the students to their two other campuses. Hence my recent job search. With this new job, I'm on track to be a permanent professor at a very prestigious French university. So after that DISASTROUS first job at that HORRID middle school, now, I don't just have a new job, I have a new career! My new career as a college professor officially started last September (2010), when I was still 50 but almost 51.

How old are you again?!

So please, Phenoix, invest that time and money in the most important thing in your world: YOU.

[Deleted]

In 20 years ask us again about going back to school later in life.

[Deleted]

May 13, 2011 18:02:41 GMT -5 phil5185 said:

How old will you be in 5 years if you don't go back to school?

Dear Abby (or was it Ann Landers?) used to say something like that when people wanted to start on something that would take them a long time.

My sister started Med school at age 30 after she'd had 3 kids. She'd thought about it earlier but got a Med Tech degree and married, and realized as she approached her 30s that she still really wanted to be a doctor. She's 55 now and has had a long, successful career.

If that's what you want, go for it.

[Agatha]

I had to smile reading some of the responses. I went for my first degree (ASN) at the age of 25. Not a big deal since my old alma mater traditionally appealed and enrolled students at 28. There was one student in my class in her late sixties and on Social Security. The applause in the auditorium at our pinning ceremony when she walked up the steps was tremendous!

[Deleted]

DH started his B.S. At 29 and will graduate in a month. ;D My BIL is working on his Ph.D at 35. His father started his B.S. when he was that age. DH remembers his father working on his M.A. when he was just a young child. I'd do it before you have kids!

On the out of state thing - read the rules very carefully. DH started immediately as an out of state student because he didn't want to wait a year. Turns out where we live starting out of state means that you are out of state until you get your degree. That's despite buying a home before he started school and paying taxes. We appealed but no dice. Lots of state schools are tightening their rules and getting cranky because they are broke.

We'd have been better off going through this program: www.wiche.edu/wue

Is there something like it where you live?

I know someone who has been going to school continuously since she was 18, full time. At 31 she is now almost finished with her Ph.D.

[lurkyloo]

May 14, 2011 18:13:13 GMT -5 @missrigby said:

In 20 years ask us again about going back to school later in life.

[Frugal Nurse]

You might be 31 by the time you graduate if you start now, but if you put it off, you'll just be older and older. And by the time you hit 31, it won't seem so "ancient". People go to grad school at lots of different ages. I'm looking at going to grad school once I'm in my late thirties (I'm 27 now). You might regret it if you never go.