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For varied reasons, older students head back to school Intellectual curiosity, career concerns motivate seniors By Enid Rosenblatt Ever thought about going back to college for the academic degree that eluded you earlier in life? Some older persons are doing just that. What motivates them? For James N. Carr, a retired firefighter, it was intellectual curiosity. Receiving a bachelor’s degree in history at age 63, he was the oldest person in his graduating class at Temple University. When he was growing up in Kensington, Carr recalls, “the Philadelphia school system didn’t encourage inner-city kids from working-class families to go to college.” He studied electronics and electric motor repair at Mastbaum Technical High School and spent two years in the Navy as an electrician, repairing aircraft. Back in Philadelphia, he repaired electric motors before beginning a 27-year career with the Philadelphia Fire Department. After retirement, Carr took a course at a technical school, which reawakened his interest in learning.‘Thought it was my turn’ “I had put both of my children through college,” he says. “I thought it was my turn.” Carr’s wife, Janet, a onetime English major with a master’s degree, helped by critiquing his papers. At Community College of Philadelphia, he did so well that the college chose him to receive a scholarship offered by The Inquirer and Daily News. He transferred to Cheyney University of Pennsylvania, attending on a full scholarship. In 2003, after deciding to major in history, he transferred to Temple. Older students, he observed, tended to be more devoted than younger ones. Sometimes, a class was empty of all but the older students, and sometimes he was the only one who had read the assignment. “Does anyone besides Mr. Carr know the answer?” a professor might ask. Has the degree changed his life? “It has made me more outgoing and more comfortable in social situations,” he says. “I feel more equal to others and better about myself.” For Lucinda Ann Elgin, who received an M.S. in nursing from Drexel University in May 2006, at age 70, career concern was the primary motivation. A nurse practitioner who coordinates the headache clinic at Kaiser-Permanente in Fresno, Calif., she completed all her course work online. Wants to ‘stay current’ “The educational requirements for nurse practitioners have changed,” she says. “I was interested in staying current on the issues. Drexel was tremendously helpful and willing to work with the mature nursing professional.” Her husband and five children and their spouses were all very supportive, and two children were especially helpful with computer issues. “In my experience, most senior students who seek degrees do so out of intellectual interest and not for career advancement,” said Nora Lewis, director of enrollment management at the University of Pennsylvania’s College of General Studies, a division of the School of Arts and Sciences that serves non-traditional students and working professionals attending full- or part-time. The College of General Studies grants bachelor’s and master’s degrees.One man who earned a degree there was nearing the end of a very successful career and didn’t need the degree for career reasons. He lacked only a few credits, Lewis said, but “it was something he wanted to do for himself.” “Older students are highly motivated, very engaged intellectually and very appreciative,” she says. “Our faculty really enjoy them because they contribute from their life experiences.” Hillel J. Hoffmann, assistant director of the Office of News Communications at Temple, reports that more and more older students are enrolling in degree programs, graduate and undergraduate. Hoffmann and Penn’s Lewis expect more older students in the future. “60 is the new 40,” says Lewis. “We’re already thinking about program development to appeal to this age group.”
