College Cost When Baby Boomers Went to College Vs. Now

College Degree After 50

Is attaining a higher degree after l years of age worth the effort and expense?

There is a lot of chat most whether higher education is worth the money.

Make sure and read the many comments on this post below. The comment portion of this postal service is longer than the original post.

This post was originally published in March of 2015 and was updated in February of 2020.

Robert Reich wrote a piece for Salon.com titled:

Robert Reich: College gets y'all nowhere

The Writer writes:

This is the fourth dimension of twelvemonth when high school seniors apply to college, and when I become lots of mail service about whether higher is worth the cost.

The answer is unequivocal yes, but with ane big qualification.

A college degree no longer guarantees a good task. The principal reason information technology pays better than the job of someone without a caste is the latter's wages are dropping.

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If this applies to a high school senior, what about a 50+-year-erstwhile who has seen their manufacture or profession disappear? We have seen in study later study that staying employed after the age of 50 can be quite difficult.  The Urban Institute written report stated:

We notice that about one-half of full-fourth dimension, full-year workers ages 51 to 54 experience an employer-related involuntary task separation after age l that substantially reduces earnings for years or leads to long-term unemployment.

Should y'all go dorsum to college to take a amend shot at staying employed? The answer is perhaps as it all comes downward to what yous await to gain from attaining the degree.

For More:v Things to Consider Before a Midlife Career Change

Preservation or Reinvention?

Are you trying to preserve or re-invent your career? These are very different targets for going back to school.

Preservation of Your Current Career

I take heard of many going back to school and getting a chief's caste in their called profession. Every bit long as their current employer supports and/or funds the caste program, it usually proves to exist successful. A skillful example is getting a Masters in Education, for those in the One thousand-12 education field.

Information technology is used to be that attaining an MBA was a sure-fire mode to spark and hopefully preserve your career. I am not sure that is truthful anymore. Especially, if you are going to invest $100K of your own money. I take one customer who received her MBA from a prestigious executive MBA programme, and it has washed nothing for her. Of course, she received it during the bang-up recession.

In updating this post, that same quondam client has found that getting the MBA was professionally beneficial in that it made her more than competitive. On the other paw, she has seen no financial benefit other than helping her stay employed. Her former employer paid the bulk of the $100K of tuition and she has no student loan debt from getting the degree. If she had paid the tuition she would exist part of the group age sixty to 69 who owe $85.4 billion in educatee debt birthday.

In my inquiry for writing this post, I have found zilch that says getting an MBA later fifty makes sense financially.

If you remember differently, delight annotate below.

Reinvention

Reinvention is most commonly done in incremental steps or pivots. For most of united states in the 2nd half of life, we accept these things called obligations like mortgages, funding our children's education and growing our retirement nest eggs.

I spent xxx plus years as a computer engineer and if I decided to become a pastry chef, I am certainly non going to be able that transition in a unmarried pace.

I might exist able to get hired as an engineer for a food product visitor. Maybe I could then shift to working straight in food production. At the same time, I could be acquiring training and perchance certifications that get me closer to my goal.

If you are reinventing your career, my experience is that getting a bachelor's or main'southward degree after fifty is non a good investment, particularly, if you are taking out student loans!

I have talked to dozens of individuals over the final couple of years who obtained their college degree afterward 50. Almost all of them told me it did not give them the competitive border they needed.

If y'all are entering a new field after 50 years of age, you lot will be competing with others much younger than you. The same issues of age discrimination that you constitute in your old field will likely apply in the new one.

It does non make sense (most of the time) to go a higher caste afterwards 50 in gild to reinvent your career.

All the same, getting a college caste after l tin can work for preserving your career, if – and it is a big if – you plan carefully.

You must do your research. Notice others who take successfully forged the trail before you embark on getting your higher caste later fifty.

For More:Career Reinvention – A Model for Change

Free Tuition Later on 65 and Possibly Younger

In the last few years, every state in the U.Due south. has started to offering either free or reduced-cost higher instruction to seniors. The definition of "senior" varies from state to state. Some beginning as early as historic period 60.

These courses are offered at state universities and customs colleges.

Take a moment to check out these resources:

• Senior Citizens Tin Go to College for Free or Cheap in All 50 States – The Penny Hoarder
• Free & Cheap College Classes for Senior Citizens (By Country & University) – MoneyCrashers

For more than only search google or your favorite search engine with "costless tuition for seniors.

Certificate Programs

Certificate programs offered at many community colleges are much less expensive and fourth dimension-consuming.  For case, Austin Community College offers certificate programs in non-turn a profit management. If you want to make the leap from for-profit to not-turn a profit, this a cost-effective means of gaining skills and will give yous some street cred in your new field.

If you lot are interested in learning more almost whether getting a document makes sense check out my postal service Certification – Is It Worth Information technology? It Depends! [Updated]

Online Courses

There are at present many online educational resources that are low toll or complimentary.

Online preparation resources include:

• MOOC.org
• edX.org
• Udacity
• General Assembly
• SkillCrush
• Lynda.com at present LinkedIn Learning
• Coursera
• SkillShare
• Udemy

These online courses are a very adept value, take far less time than a higher degree and extremely relevant to the job market today.

Example

Back in 2015 I talked with Christine Jensen, whom I discovered through her article on PBS NextAvenue website called RIF'd at 59: The Lessons She Learned.

Christine is now a freelance author. She is because going to her local community higher for a photography certificate. It is affordable and she can pick and choose what to take. She may not even pursue a document if she obtains the skills she needs without completing the plan.

I merely reached dorsum out to Christine to see what she concluded upwards doing. She wrote me back proverb:

5 years ago, I was at the start of a major transition period. I did take a photography class at the local customs higher and enjoyed it very much. I also worked a series of short-term contract jobs for companies such every bit The Grossman Grouping and Wells Fargo.

I of those brusque-term gigs—teaching at Iowa State Academy—turned into a longer-term position. Today I am an assistant education professor at ISU in the Greenlee Schoolhouse of Journalism and Advice. My education assignments for the past four years take focused on public relations, which allow me to share my xxx years of experience with aspiring professionals. I accept thoroughly enjoyed the esprit of the ISU faculty and the opportunity to interact regularly with young adults.

Now I discover myself inbound a new transition catamenia. At my asking, my pedagogy load this year was reduced to just 1 form each semester. This modify allows me to spend more time on creative pursuits, volunteer work, and my grandchildren.

For the foreseeable future, I hope to continue teaching and to do more freelance writing.

She made the transition without getting an advanced degree.

It all comes downwards to – doing your research!

Have you lot pursued your college degree after 50? Was it worth it?

Marc Miller

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