Statistics indicate an increase in
older students on college campuses
*38% of all undergraduates in the
U.S. are ages 25 and older. Source: Inside Higher Education, U.S. Dept. of
Education.
*38% of all Californians have a
college degree, including associate of arts. Source: Inside Higher Education,
U.S. Dept. of Education.
Undergraduates 25 and older at local colleges
*23.4% 24,376 total 5,710 25 and
older Source: San Francisco State University.
*7.4% 23,000 total 1,700 25 and
older. Source: UC Berkeley.
*70.9% - Percentage growth of
college students younger than 25 in the U.S. from 1970 to 2005. From 6.2
million to 10.6 million.* Source:
U.S. Dept. of Education.
*183% - Percentage growth of college
students 25 and older in the U.S. from 1970 to 2005From 2.4 million to 6.8
million.* Source: U.S.
Dept. of Education.
* Both numbers based on fall enrollment.
*With the economy hurting the us these numbers above are
going to rise to 30% or even 40% by the end of 2010
Then you wake up in a panic. If in
possession of a college diploma, you will look for it in the dead of night. If
found, it will provide about 10 minutes of reassurance. There are only two ways
to stop the panic, and psychotherapy is more expensive and less fun than going back
to school. At the very least, being a student again will supply new fodder for
anxiety dreams to replace the ones that are 30 or 40 or 50 years old.
No matter how "too old for
school" you think you are, you are not as "too old" as Hazel
Soares of San Leandro. At age 93, Soares is entering her junior year (or years)
at Mills College in Oakland. An art history major, she's taking it nice and
slow - slow enough to walk across the stage and accept her diploma at age 100.
That's doing it in style, but
probably not a style worth waiting around to emulate. What follows are four
other sources of inspiration and a guide to 15 Bay Area universities.
Anybody older than 25 who goes back to school can expect to
be called a "re-entry student," as in "just re-entered from
outer space." We prefer the Mills term, "resumers," and the
growth area would be the subcategory "Boomer resumers." Unless you
enroll at the University of Oklahoma, in which case you will be a Boomer Sooner
Resumer.
