don’t give me the it’s never too late bs. Life happens, people have jobs, debts and rent to pay.
Going back to school when you’re employed means debt, earning way less or nothing during your bachelor or master, stress, opportunities you’re not aware of because you’re simply not at your workplace anymore, unpaid overtime during those 2 to 3 years… the money you lose is more than what the bachelor / accreditation costs.
When does it start being a stupid idea? Is it when you’re 30? 40? 50?
My grandmother graduated law school at the age of 65 and practiced for the next 15 years. It’s never too late.
It’s got nothing to with age. As you pointed out there are financial reasons where you might not be able to. But that’s realy the only hurdle. And there are plenty of ways to clear it.
My Mother got her Bachelor’s degree at 55. She graduated with some rare honours.
NEVER stop learning!
Did she do it for the joy of learning? Or personal growth and satisfaction? Or was it for career enhancement?
Similar thing with my mom, only she retired soon after graduating.
I have a friend that is taking courses at 50… but we’re not in the US
My spouse is finishing a degree at 36 and kicking themselves they didn’t do it sooner. I’ll have some extra time in about 2 1/2 years and I want to try and fit in a class or two. It just depends on your situation, but if you’re needing a degree to get a better job, you’ll want to get to that earning potential ASAP. The cost could potentially just be a drop in the bucket if you still plan on working for another 30+ years. It can also be rewarding just to expand your knowledge and grow in unexpected ways. My advice is to just do it and get it over with already. Especially if it will lead to better opportunities and earnings. Or don’t, it’s your life.
It’s never too late. If you’re 110 you might not make it to graduation though.
Yeah, maybe stick to certificates after 100.
It depends on if you’re going back to school for career reasons or personal enrichment. For the latter it really is never too late. For your career, though, too late will depend on when you’re hoping to retire, when you’ll complete the extra schooling, how much the school will cost, and how much more money you’ll expect to make with your new degree.
Without any info, assuming you want to retire around 65, I would think it would be normal to want to use your new degree for at least ten years, so whatever schooling you’d want to do you would want to be finishing by the time you’re 55. But those other variables come into play. If you’re borrowing $100,000 to pay for med school, your cutoff date will probably be earlier because it will take a longer time to pay off the student loans. On the flip side, if you’re paying $5-10,000 for a 6-month programming boot camp that will boost your income by $10-20,000/year then you might even consider doing that at age 60, especially if you’re already bringing a computer science background where your experience and new skills will keep you in high demand.
There’s not really a one-size-fits-all answer to this question.
When you’re dead.
Menopause and severe brain fog would like a word.
I’ve been through surgically induced menopause and I’m fine? It’s a bit baffling and honestly misogynistic to suggest that basically any woman from middle age onwards is incapable of doing a degree. I don’t think menopause made me stupider.
I’ve seen people of all ages and career stages in classes. I think the least represented is 30-50 though, so I guess most people study while they’re figuring out their career or when they’re sick of the career of their past 2 decades. This was in the EU though where university doesn’t lead to guaranteed financial ruin. I also know of some people who were working full time and did a longer degree with “evening classes”.
You should never stop learning and school is a very good way to learn. If you don’t learn new stuff all the time your brain will literally stagnate and rot. It will atrophy.
Very few people are cut out for true self directed learning so, unless you’re one of the gifted few, structured and group learning is the best way to do it.
If you’re highly motivated anything is better than nothing. Find free courses, look stuff up, engage the academic world as best you can 🤷♀️
My wife got her masters degree last year, at age 58.
community college is flexible
Education is everyone’s domain. It is never too late to learn new things.
Either never or upon birth, depending on where you live.
I graduated as a kid with 2 retirees in my psych classes who told me getting their degree was one of the most important, rewarding things they had ever done.
Also, nowadays you can travel abroad in dozens of countries, take English-languages courses and get accredited degrees in every field for very affordable tuition fees, as in 90% cheaper.
While you’re attending those schools, your cost of living will be dramatically lowered as well.
If anyone wants details, talk to me here or in Travel.
