Older learners returning to college

Publish date	2008-01-14
Available Articles	Full articles without membership

Phyllis Turner is living proof that it’s never too late to return to education. Turner, a 94-year-old great-great-grandmother who left school at the age of 12, recently gained a master’s degree in medical science from the University of Adelaide in Australia. According to Guinness World Records, this makes her the world’s oldest recipient of an MSc.

Turner left school at 12 to help her mother look after her siblings after they were abandoned by their father. After raising her own seven children and two stepchildren, she completed her school education at nights because, “I love study,” she told an Adelaide radio station this week.

At 70, she enrolled at the University of Adelaide. “I came top in the essay section when I did my entry exam,” she said. At 72, she won a 12-month scholarship to study at the University of California.

After California, she enrolled at the Australian National University and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in anthropology. She said she decided to pursue her master’s degree when her husband died five years ago. She was reported as saying she would like to pursue a PhD, but lack of mobility prevented her from doing so.

For people already in a career or with a family, returning to university to study as an undergraduate or postgraduate can seem like a distant possibility – usually because of cost and time factors. However, fully online and distance learning options can make a return to education possible, whether it’s to effect a career change or simply broaden educational horizons. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, one-third of adults who participate in adult educational activities use some type of distance education.

So how does the older learner go about deciding what to study, and where? Initially, you should map out your academic goals. If, for example, you’re a long way into a business-related career and are looking for a change, it’s worthwhile looking at the latest statistics from the Graduate Management Admissions Council (www.gmac.com) to find out which professions and industries are hiring the most MBAs – not to mention paying the highest wages and offering the best perks.

Work out if you’re going to have the time and perseverance to take a distance learning degree. As a very rough guide, you should expect to study at least two evenings a week and one day each weekend. If you have a family, talk to them. Explain what you plan to do – one of the most commonly cited reasons for dropping out of an online degree is lack of support.

Look at cost. For an MBA, you’re looking at paying anything from $10,000 to $120,000. To get the best value for money, US students should look for public, non-profit schools. Online programmes can be as competitive as face-to-face, full-time courses. More and more public university providers, such as the University of Illinois, are launching online versions of their residential degrees.

If you’re working, look first to your employer for funding. A majority of large and medium-sized companies offer tuition benefits, and most distance learners are funded through work. If you go down this route, beware that funding will most likely come with a caveat that you stay with the company for two or more years after you graduate. To find out about scholarships, US students should research the Government’s tuition funding resource at www.studentaid.ed.gov. UK students can find advice on scholarships, bursaries and loans at www.direct.gov.uk.

There are more than 250 awards created especially for students who are older than 25, and more than 1,800 scholarships that are available to someone of any age.

At the age of 40, Tricia Anderton turned being made redundant to her advantage. With time and money to study for an MBA, she swapped her private sector career for a job in the NHS – a long-cherished ambition.

“I left school at 16 with only a handful of GCEs, began working immediately and was employed by various companies in typical administration roles,” she says. “I had been working for ICI for 11 years and had just been made redundant. Although I was a successful senior manager, I felt not having a degree might hold me back outside the company.”

When Tricia lost her job, she discussed with her husband and two teenage daughters the possibility of studying for an MBA. After deciding to go ahead with a Masters qualification, she researched her options. What were her criteria?

“Firstly, I wanted to continue to live at home and be with my family. My role at ICI had taken me to North America approximately one week in four for over three years and I needed to be at home.

Tricia opted for Manchester Metropolitan University. “I decided I really liked the feel of the school and was happy with the course content. I was extremely nervous as to whether I would even be considered as a student, given my lack of recent formal qualifications. However, I was reassured that with my extensive work experience as a senior manager I would be offered a place.

“The most valuable thing about my MBA is that even though everyone told me I didn’t need a degree to further my career I never believed it, despite my success at ICI. Having “MBA” after my name has made me more confident in my abilities than I would ever have believed possible.”

Keywords: MSc, PhD, GMAC, MBA, Continuing Education, Distance Learning.

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