I recently found out that Obama started a new education loan rehabilitation program that makes payments based on your income. After speaking to my collection agency I found out my payment is only $5 a month. I only have to make 6 payments until I am available to sign up for financial assistance again. My only problem is my last school says I owe them $595, and I can't get my transcripts until I pay that. Luckily my landlord said he would pay it and let me pay him back when I got my school loans. So can anyone tell me if my classes from 2005 would still be good for credits now? If so I would only be a year away from my degree. I guess the reason I started this thread is to see if anyone else has been in my position where you go back to school after a long break in life. I fear that I might not be able to keep up or that I won't be able to learn like I used to.
You're about the same age as I was when I went for my post-grad degrees. I never had to worry about keeping up (well, other than spending too much time at the pub and the cinema when I was studying in the UK). What worried me more was the half-assed work that can get you a high grade in some prestigious American institutions. I don't know what subjects you'd like to tackle. But if they involve writing and thinking, you'll be way ahead of most kids there.
Oh, yeah. And could you request one of the mods to alter your title? At the most, it should say "at an Older Age."
I'm not sure if your credits from back then are still valid (you'd have to talk to a counselor or something), but I've known a few older folks who decided to go back to college. In fact, in one of my philosophy classes, there were five or so senior citizens who used to attend lectures on a regular basis. If you're worried about workload or being able to keep up, I would suggest starting off with one class to see how that goes. I've come to realize that the amount of work you have to put in depends on the professor. Some professors like to give a lot of work, while others don't ask too much of their students. Anyway, good luck!
You should definitely check with the school - many, if not most, will give "life credits" and/or partial credit (at least) for previous education. When I went back (in my mid-30s and some 15 years after my last class), I got almost a full year cut off because of previous education and "life experience".
It's much more about the institution than it is about the credits. If it's the same institution it's unlikely that your credits are super time sensitive. A history class in 2005 will have much the same content as one given in 2015.
Definitely check. As @Jack Asher pointed out, certain kinds of courses won't have changed all that much in 10 years. I know people who have taken more than 10 years to get a degree in the first place, and nobody kicked about it, or made them repeat courses. 10 years isn't the same as, say, 50 years. I suspect if you were in medical school, perhaps the classes need to be up-to-date, but if you're studying something like English or Art or History, probably not. But do check. A simple phone call or email to the right people at your chosen university should answer your question. Also, don't be shy about telling them about your current situation. If you have a health condition that affects your life, this can actually work in your favour. Universities can make exceptions to their rules when certain circumstances, like health issues, are in play. So definitely establish a one-on-one conversation with somebody who can help you there. One interesting thing I've noticed ...ALL (without exception) of the people I know who had a long gap in their education and then went back, had no problem "keeping up," and actually did better grade-wise than they had done before. I think maturity and life experience makes you value education more, and consequently you work harder at it. I know two people (one is a relative and one is a close friend) who barely scraped through high school classes because they didn't give a rip at the time, but achieved a 3.5-4.0 average at university when they went in later life. One guy dropped out of university partway through, because he got caught up in the university 'life' and started skipping classes, etc. When he went back more than 10 years later, he breezed through and ended up with a 4.0 average. Both of them had to pass competency tests to be admitted to university, and both were admitted on probation, but they had no problem with this. If you had good grades when you left, you shouldn't have any problem getting back in. So, don't worry about that aspect of the situation. If you're motivated, you'll do fine. As @Catrin Lewis said, you'll actually have an edge on students who are struggling with classes AND budding maturity—first time away from home, partaaay!—at the same time. BTW - Your landlord sounds great!
I called the school I'm looking to go to, University of the Cumberlands, and asked them if my credits would still transfer with them being about ten years old. They said that there is no problem with that! With all the credits I already have and that I have all the credits to cover my major, I could take a year of underwater basket weaving classes and get my degree. I'll probably not do that though and instead take classes like Spanish, Sign Language and some other useful classes.
