Older Americans Going to College

Jo Ann Fanello
Sheila Allard
Written Communications
11 May, 2010



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 at the time I didn’t have a college education. The only option that made any sense to me was to go to college. Along with many of my co-workers, I was forced to make the choice between taking a lower paying job or go 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. Jane Birnbaum, writer for the AFL-CIO states, “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.

Veterans are coming home from overseas having served time in the war. Many of them will no longer have a job when they return. According to Anna Mulrine, writer for U.S. News & World Report, “Under the new GI Bill passed by Congress in 2008, another generation of war veterans—and their families—will begin receiving expanded educational assistance this year.” With the help of the federal government these veterans are able to go to college and get back into the work force. (Mulrine) Mulrine adds, “About 100,000 student vets and their families are expected to take part in the program this school year.”

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, biology major from Sparta who served in the Marines. "You don't meet many other 25-year-old sophomores" (Dolan qtd in Jones para. 3). 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. Going to college helps secure your future. Many people who are already employed have the opportunity to advance within their company. “Many people want to move up that proverbial corporate ladder and without a college degree the chances of this happening have decreased significantly”, claims Leigh Goessl, writer for the website Helium. She goes on to add, “ With more and more job titles requiring higher education, the opportunities for advancement often come to a dead stop without a college degree”(Goessl para 6).

There are other nontraditional students on college campuses. The thought of fulfilling a lifelong dream of going to college lures older people to college. Raising a family and working were more important when they were younger. Now as their children have gotten older and moved out, it is a perfect time to make that dream come true. The joy of learning is also bringing older Americans to college. Years ago many of the courses available now weren’t offered. Computers have also opened the doors for many new opportunities.

A year has gone by since I heard the news about the plant closing their doors. I have completed a six week course in Certified Nursing Assistant Program. I also am finishing up my first college semester. I am hoping to get into the Occupational Therapy Assistant program in the fall. If I go to summer school and continue as I have been I will finish in 2 ½ years. What then I ask myself? I am hoping to find a job working with older disabled people. As I was doing my clinical for the CNA program I realized how much joy and satisfaction comes from being able to help someone. So as I have been telling myself ever since I heard about the closing, “Everything happens for a reason”.







Fanello 4
Works Cited

Birnbaum, Jane. ” American Jobs: Going, Going…” 2010 AFL-CIO Web
Goessl,Leigh. “Explaining the trend of older students returning to college” Helium.com.
Jones, Meg. “After war, veterans go off to college”. Milwaukee Journal Online, 6 Oct. 2009, web
Mulrine, Anna. “New Benefits Help Veterans Go to College, The new GI Bill will help veterans—and their families—pay college tuition”. U.S. News & World Report (web) 3 Aug.2009