No Stupid Questions

When you’re 60, will you wish you started the work 20 years ago?

You have another 27 years until retirement for most western countries. That's enough time to get a teaching degree and earn a pension in most places.

You still have a full ass life to go.

Here's the thing, you are going to die.

Start living like it.

Get the experiences you want outta life. You wanna go learn about social sciences and get a degree? Well don't let a silly thing that "I'm closer to death" stop you.

Will there be group projects? Most likely. Not the experience ya want? Find a different way to learn that shit.

This is it. This is the only chance you have. This is not a dress rehearsal. Fill your life with what you want to do. If getting a degree is important to you, and group projects and higher ed types get under your skin? Find a different road (is online an option in your locality?) or knuckle down and endure the discomfort to get what you want out of life.

It's your life, go get it!

Wrong thought process: You're gonna be around 50 by the time you graduate.

Right thought process: You will be 50 one day no matter what you do. You might as well aim for being 50 with a degree.

I switched careers and became a middle school teacher at 40. I am now 42 and finishing my Masters of secondary education. It’s never too late.

Father in law is currently doing a degree in astrophysics, he’s late 50’s. Spent the last 25 years in sales.

Had the opportunity to train an ex chef of 20 something years in a particular technology I am well versed in, he was doing a bachelors of CS and has gone on to begin a degree in psychology. Late 40’s, half a dozen kids.

It’s entirely up to you, follow your heart. The rest will follow.

Sounds like you have little to lose and little to win, but potentially a lot to win. So... Why not?

Never too late. I plan to take classes in things I'm actually interested in after I retire. I never want to stop learning.

Didn't start mine until mid 30s but after it finally got me out of the 'just another job' ranks and put me into decent career class work. Not a sure thing, but in my case it was a sizable change in my life path.

I'd much rather employ a 50-year-old recent graduate than a 21-year-old recent graduate. There are lots of reasons for this, not least all the extra life experience and the hard evidence of being able to make major decisions and follow through with a difficult challenge.

No employer expects a new graduate employer to stay with them more than a few years anyway, so I can't see you'd be disadvantaged there either

Yes, do it.

I got my degree as a working adult after traditional "uni age". I did so while still working full time professionally taking a couple of classes at a time, never having to go into debt for it. I had decided a degree was something I wanted, so I used my skills as an adult to make that happen. I am better for it too.

Doing higher education as an adult is MUCH EASIER than it was when I tried it after high school. So many "adulting" skills you take for granted make it much smoother. Time management, prioritization, understanding of consequences, desire for the value of the money you're spending, and more.

But I know myself. I like to work alone. I have no patience to deal with group tasks. Never could. I don’t mingle, I don’t socialize. And I really have something against stuck up people, be them be teachers or fellow students. I’d get in trouble really fast.

Yes there are group projects, yes they are annoying, yes sometimes people don't pull their weight and you have to navigate that. Even with all of that the group work was maybe 5% of all the effort put into the degree. Its not that bad, and you'll get through it and achieve your goal.

I actually got an education as well as a degree. I have an understanding of so many topics that I hadn't planned on that don't even relate to my field, such as:

• Human physiology
• Micro/Macro economics
• Consumer behavior
• Structures of Ethics
• Communication Theory
• Video production

If you're like me, you may have been carrying some amount of shame for not accomplishing your degree in your early 20s as is traditional. You carry that for DECADES and you handwave it away when you focus too much on it. You worry a bit that maybe there is something wrong with you as most everyone else could get the degree, especially after trying a few times since then without following through. You may even worry about your employment prospects when prospective employers find out you don't have a degree. This may also have limited your promotion in your jobs you've held.

All of that disappears when you finish your degree. You are, in an instant, just like everyone else that got their degree (irrespective of when). Also, if you worry that others may question you later on why it took you so long to get your degree. Unless you volunteer it, no one ever knows. When I say or write that I have a Bachelors degree, they always assume I got it after high school like everyone else. If someone asks, I'll certainly tell them otherwise, but no one ever asks.

To quote the Chinese proverb: The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second best time is right now.

So in conclusion: Yes, do it.

nobody can tell you yes or no as it is entirely dependent on variables only you have the most knowledge of. are you aware of the risks and rewards? have you weighed them appropriately? i guess we can help you there but ultimately it won't be age that determines whether or not you should pursue higher education. do it if you want to, but do it for you.. not to get a job, or a career, or anything else.

Literally depends on finances. As an investment? I would say no.

Is an employer paying for it? 100% worth it. Do you have your finances covered such that retirement's not going to be an issue in your older age? Absofucking really. Do it.

Higher education is expensive. It also depends on what you want to study. Is it something you can feasibly study yourself for a cheaper cost, do projects and prove yourself to employers?

Like if your neck is above water and you're thinking about studying computer science right now... I recommend like a thousand good YouTube videos instead. Genuine passion, a build-it attitude, that will save you some money and probably go further in the long run..

The higher education will never hurt. It will only hurt you financially. It won't guarantee a return.