Is it common for older people to go to university?

22 comments

1. In Italy there is something called “Università della terza età”* many old folks go there and they also offer classes in the afternoon/night since it’s mostly for those working and that can’t attend during the morning/early afternoon”

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   * Terza età = third age literally

2. To get a specialization, sometimes (ex: engineers who get a management degree)
   A new field, rarely.

3. Not really in Poland. Here, most of the students who go to university are 19 years old because they go there right after graduating from high school. After school you either go to work or to university and, unlike in communist times, nowadays going to university is not seen as something very prestigious because it’s very easy to get into. I mean, having higher education is seen as something standard / normal but not special at all (except if you study medicine or law, because at least those two are considered the most prestigious faculties), and in 99% cases it’s completely free you don’t have to pay any tuition unlike in the USA.

   Of course, there are some people who go to university when they’re in their 30s or older, but it’s not really common. In my year the oldest person was 4 years older than the majority of us so it was nothing weird. Apart from that, some people at some point in time decide to change their career and go to university again but I don’t think I could do that because I went through hell in university and don’t want to experience this again.

   And there’s also Uniwersytet Trzeciego Wieku (“university of third age”) but as far as I know the majority of elderly people spend their time at home or walking around the town or going to the doctor or to the pharmacy. Old people who go to UTW are the exceptions.

4. Quite common, actually I did that when I was 28. I my promotion, they were like 70% of 18 to 20yo students, 30% of 40 to 50 yo students.

   And then me, the only one in between… quite alone. To old to hand out with the youngest… we were not on the same page, to young to be accepted by the busy “mum group”, all with 2 or 3 kids.

5. Not common at all for full-time study. Older people (which means like older than 25 in this case) often study on weekends.

6. Yep. In my class there are a few 30+ and also a few 50+

7. My father got his masters at 48 and my mog got her bachelor at 45. Both were well off and working great jobs. They studied for degrees for higher pension.

8. Not common at all. When it happens, it’s almost always an online program or some evening classes or something like that, not a full-time degree.

9. Not at all. My mom had the opprotunity to finish her degree in her early thirties but refused to do so due to both shame and societal/family pressure of rasing me and my brother. She had no support from my dad either, who was all like “How do you think I can raise these kids? I’m working and also not their mother.”.

10. Not really. You have some senior students (60+) in programs like history or political science sometimes, but I’ve very rarely seen people between 30 and 50 at university.

11. It is quite common, and I have a feeling that it is becoming increasingly so, as the labour market for academics is very changeable and competitive and the demand from employers that applicants have freshly updated knowledge in their fields increases. For example, when I studied Design for Sustainable Development and Writing and Publishing in Digital Media at Malmö University just a few years ago, nearly half of the people on both courses were over 30 and some even above 40. Which I personally think is great – it should never be too late to study or to widen or update your academic knowledge.

12. only ´´externally´´, but it is normal:
    ´´externally´´ basically means going to the uni for most saturdays, some fridays and soemtimes even sundays of the year……your study is a year longer than normal curriculum, and people might make fun of you if your school was private

    private universities are considered a joke here

    and why? civil service payment and promotion charts…..if you want any raise or promotion, you need a certain years of service and a certain degree – bachelor or masters or even phD for very high positions

    so people study any ´´flyover´´ course to get the degree……..and then they have a chance….

    it is a horrible system, many senior bureaucrats simply buy their degrees….then refuse to resign….even part of our current government had problem with their master theses!

    it is so terribly normalised…..and what is worse, the moment you have any degree you get at least a tiny bit of respect….especially if you are a woman, minority or immigrant

    degree flashing and plagiarism is so huge here

13. When I studied in Bologna there was a 60+ man in my class.

    He was like: well, now that I’m retired why not?

14. I’d say so, yes. It’s not uncommon to change careers throughout life.

    Actually, when I read “older people” my first thought was about pensioners. When I went to university, there were many pensioners taking classes just for fun. Since university is practically free, it’s a fun activity for many people to do after they have stopped working.

15. More than in the US I’d say, some of it is definitely also our culture of gap years though. Like I’ve seen plenty of people online being like “haha we have a bit of an older guy in our dorm, he’s like, 26!” that is so utterly, mindnumbingly normal here.

16. Some students in my University classes started after turning 30, usually they either served in the Military or they went through vocational training first. We also had some that turned 30, while studying often because they had to switch programs after failing their first one.

    There are also programs directed at retirees, that allows them to sit in on lectures. However you cannot get a degree through these programs, they are purely their out of interest for the subject. From what I hear these retirees can make up a notable portion of attendants in subjects like philosophy or history of arts, meanwhile they are basically unheard of in my engineering classes.

17. It’s common but It depends on the career. I’ve only had one classmate over 30 in my five years of university.

18. It happens, but would not say it is pretty common. People in that age often is tied to paying of debt on their house, paying for their children etc. That fits poorly with studying. Anways .. can be a thing if you have man or wife who can “pay the rent”. The wife of norways PMs educated herself to the profession of priest recently in the age of her fifties.. Generally the market for jobs here has been that good for the last decades.. so there is “no economy” in studying forever or having multiple degrees. In the end studying will hit you hard on your pensions, as it is calculated on every year your in work.

    In the end the definition of “common” , what is it ? Without a definition, but just a feeling for the word “common” would say it is “uncommon” for people >30 studying. That doesn’t mean it never happens.

19. Not that often. But it differs between the different type of universities we have. Fachhochschulen often have older students since they often admit based on vocational degrees and other stuff and not only based on your high school degree. So students at Universitäten are usually younger, coming directly from high school and only sometimes from high school and vocational education.

    Switching to a new carreer happens very rarely. We tend to specialise in one field and Masters are usually consecutive and only a more recent concept.

20. When I was doing my bachelors degree almost everyone was in the 18-21 range. When I was doing my masters, I was one of the youngest people in the entire group. Some people go to university later in life for a second degree, more career opportunities or just out of interest in the subject.

21. I think it’s fairly common. Some people want to change careers, others get higher educations for better positions in the company they work in. University is free, so it’s just a matter of work/life balance.

22. I don’t know how common exactly it is.. In Slovakia, most people are around 19-21 when they first start university. So that’s already kinda late compared to the US. And when I was in my first year of uni, I had some classmates who were in their late 20’s. I personally don’t know anyone who is 30+ and in college but I’m sure there are people like that.