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If you’re a Gen Xer or a millennial, you remember a time when college was pitched to you as a value-add, rather than a necessary expense. We all know how that turned out. And while many of us graduated and hopefully put our degrees to work, as many as 40 million Americans were classifiable as college dropouts in July 2021, according to according to EducationData.org—folks who previously enrolled in higher ed but left before completing a degree.
Plenty of people from all generations leave school before finishing a degree, for reasons that vary from financial to personal. But even after you've already entered the working world without a degree, going back to finish yours can be a smart move. If you've already earned a good number of general ed credits, for example—say a year’s worth—in theory you should be able to apply them to a degree in a new field that reflects your current ambitions, not those of your teenage self.
For many adults, going back to school seems daunting, but finishing your degree could lead to higher salaries and more opportunities, or put you on the path to a different career altogether. I talked to an expert to get some tips on how you can apply your life experience to picking up where you left off, and share proactive strategies for finally finish your degree.
Take stock of your (scholarly) assets
Whether it’s been one year or 20 since you left school, it’s hard to remember exactly what's on your transcript. Record gathering is an important part of the back-to-school process, so start there. Even if you plan on attending the same school you left, it’s essential to know where you stand.
Doing this will help you avoid disappointment or surprises by giving you a better idea of what’s under your belt. As a kid, the college application process seemed complex and difficult, but when you’re in your 30s and have been laid off a few times, it’s really no more complicated than a job application.
College transcripts are an important way to take stock of your credits and their subject matter, but you might also need your high school transcripts if you’re going to be attending a different school or if it’s been so long that your previous school no longer has those records. Calling, emailing, and filling out forms is your first tstep, but paid services like Parchment can help with some of the legwork.
I asked Dr. Bri Newland, assistant dean of the New York University School of Professional Studies Division of Applied Undergraduate Studies (NYU SPS DAUS), where o begin when determining your credit status.
“Most program policies on transfer credit typically have a maximum limit of 10 years," she said. "However, it is crucial to schedule a meeting with an experienced academic advisor who will thoroughly assess your transcripts alongside you, regardless of whether you acquired these credits beyond the specified timeframe.”
There’s more factors at play than when you stopped attending. If you have any other type of technical schooling or certifications, gather this paperwork in case there are professional equivalencies that could make your credits go farther.
“The [NYU SPS DAUS] also assesses prior learning through other experiences beyond college credit," Dr. Newland noted. "For example, military experience can be reviewed for college credit, as well as prior work experience and apprenticeships.“
While colleges and universities are places of higher education, they are also businesses, and want you to keep going (and graduate) to keep their reputation for excellence intact, so they are usually willing to work with you. Save money and time by knocking out as many equivalent credits as possible.
Dr. Newland gave an example of how this works at NYU. “For associate's degrees, students can transfer up to 30 credits, while for bachelor's degrees, 80 credits can be transferred," she said. "This flexibility allows students to build upon their prior learning and accelerate their path to graduation.”
Reach out to your alma mater
Give the admissions folks at your former school a call. Spring is a great time for adult students to ring, as most graduating high schoolers have already made their enrollment decisions. At many colleges, adult applicants can complete their application whenever they want, especially if it’s a school they already attended.
Admissions counselors can do everything from getting you set up with an application, to checking your records to make sure that you have what you need to reapply, and even directing you to other school services that could make the process easier. Alumni services serve as post-attendance marketing, enticing you to return and maybe even helping you meet that goal by connecting you to financial resources.
If you’re a working professional, counselors can also help you decide if your previous school can accommodate your schedule. If you’re one of the hundreds of thousands of people laid off right now, you should apply for financial aid now while you’re between jobs.
How to pay for it
If you’re in a stable job and your company doesn’t already provide educational resources as a matter of course, it can’t hurt to ask. Continuing education is often a part of competitive compensation packages, and you should to use that to your advantage. Education focused workplaces, especially in tech and healthcare, will sometimes even allow you time off of work to focus on these pursuits.
NYU in particular devotes an entire segment of their school to lifelong learners. Dr.Newland said. Adult and continuing education programs at many schools take a different approach to schoolwork too. “For example, through hands-on projects, real-world case studies, and industry collaborations, NYU SPS DAUS students gain practical experience and develop the tools and strategies needed to tackle complex problems and drive innovation in their fields, she noted.”
For the unemployed or underemployed, you can follow the same route you did as a high schooler: Apply for financial aid, in all its many forms. It’s easier than ever to find loans and scholarships, and you can enter into the process with your eyes open and the financial literacy of an adult. Grants, repayment programs, and even low-cost loans could offer just enough to cover the handful of credits you need to complete if you're close to finishing, while a scholarship could cover a year or more.
Use all the tools at your disposal
I'm not saying you should use AI to write an entrance letter or complete your research papers after work, but imagine if you had ChatGPT to check your grammar and spelling 15 years ago. Digital calendars, digital note-taking, and other educational tools have come a long way in recent years, and you should use them help you across the educational finish line, wherever that may be. For example, software like Otter.ai can take notes for you, and you can summarize them with OpenAI and track your projects on Monday.com.
Remote learning is no longer considered a fringe or lesser higher education experience. Online classes can be your sole method of schooling, and you don’t have choose an online-only schools to get a remote degree.
If you require more accommodations that you did (or that were available) back when you were in college, look into those too: These days, every college has an office deevoted to helping people with disabilities do their best in academia. Neurodivergence, mental illness, or physical ability need not be an impediment in today's educational environment. School services can help you create a plan for success, and social attitudes have shifted to make receiving this assistance more commonplace and easier to access.
Apply everything you learned as a professional to your back-to-school experience, and you’ll finally be able to get that (very expensive, hopefully equally valuable piece of paper..
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