Higher Education - Adults Getting Higher Education

Many times after a couple has their family out of the nest they find that now is when they can return to college and get the degree they always wanted. Many times it is the mother who put behind her the career that she wanted for the sake of the family while the father had to go as he was the bread winner and his career was considered most important. It is not uncommon to find older adult students picking up the books and returning to college. In most cases the college campus is full of the more youthful adult that is thirty five years old and under but new streams of older adults from ages 55 to 79 desire to retool their education becoming a student. In the early part of life many older adults died around the age of sixty-eight so they work their whole life with never the opportunity to pursue the goals they have in life. It was very difficult for them to get accepted into college because was reserved for the more youthful student.

Funding at the time was out of the question because it was felt that there was no need for the older student to return to college it was a waste of time and money. The older student had various barriers that prevent them from returning to school their health was always considered along with the race and ethnic backgrounds prevented the colleges from accepting them as students. The fast pace technology seemed to intimidate the older student preventing them from becoming a part of the learning techniques. This was a real learning challenge for older adults. Now a lot of the colleges offer peer mentoring programs to help the older student up to speed. There are also off campus organizations that work with the older student to help them get more in tuned with the modern youthful student who is very savvy when it comes to modern technology.

The federal government is finding that many of the older adults make great students as they are more ready to settle in for the long haul and keep to their studies. The older adult wants to make their career much better and seems to be more serious minded. That is why there are now special grants and scholarships to help the older adult pay for their college expenses. A good thing to see some of our older adults pursues knowledge by returning to college.

By : Tom Tessin