Older Americans Going to College

American adults aged 25-60 are attending college now more than ever in the past. There are many contributing factors to why this is happening. One of the biggest reasons is that a lot of Americans are losing their jobs. “ The U.S. economy has 3.2 million fewer jobs today than it did when President George W. Bush took office, including 2.5 million fewer manufacturing jobs” (Birnbaum). Multinational corporations are sending the jobs to countries where the wages are lower, thus forcing companies to shut their doors in the United States.

One year ago at this time I found out I would be losing my job that I had for twenty five years. TRW would be moving all of our jobs to a different facility and sending many jobs to their plant in Mexico. My first thought was, now what? I started working right out of high school, so I didn’t have a college education. The only option that made any sense to me was to go to college. I along with many of my co-workers was forced to make the choice between taking a lower paying job or go to college.

Veterans are coming home from overseas having served time in the war. Many of them no longer have a job when they return. “ Since the end of the Second World War, with returning soldiers taking advantage of the G.I. Bill, the U.S. Armed Forces have helped millions of Americans go to college” (Sallie May). With the help of the federal government these veterans are able to go to college and get back into the work force.

Around the United States veterans are flooding the campuses and changing the student population at many colleges. Twenty-three Wisconsin universities and technical colleges are military friendly schools."Just your age and the way you look. It makes you stick out," said Paul Dolan, 25, a biology major from Sparta who served in the Marines. "You don't meet many other 25-year-old sophomores"(Jones). All of that is changing with the increasing number of veterans and people without jobs entering college.

Not all of the older people going to college these days are without jobs. Some adults have different reasons for going. There are people who are interested in seeking a new career or starting a new business. The joy of learning is another reason some are going back. Years ago a lot of the courses weren’t available. Computers are a huge reason why some older adults are going back. Today’s world is highly impacted by the use of computers.






Birnbaum, Jane, American Jobs: Going, Going… AFL-CIO (web)
Sally May College Answer.com (web)
Jones, Meg, After war, veterans go off to college, Milwaukee Journal Online (web)