Online Education Articles - Adult Continuing Education Online - Adults Returning To School

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• Introduction
• About the Research
  • The Author
• Results in Brief
  • Benefits
  • Barriers
  • Influences
• Results in Depth
  • Benefits
  • Barriers
  • Influences
• Demographic Analysis
  • Men and Women
  • African American Women
  • Adults age 50–60
• Media Information

Degrees of Opportunity: Barriers that may make it challenging to return to school as an adult

Although more than half of adults surveyed in the Degrees of Opportunity study would like more education, only one-third of that group said they would “probably pursue this.” The educational obstacles adults identified were different than those typically associated with students attending college right after high school.

Among adults who want more education, the top five challenges/barriers to pursuing higher education relate to time and money:

• Managing all of my other commitments and still finding time for school (perceived as a barrier by 73% of respondents).
• Finding the money to pay for school (70%).
• Providing for myself/family while in school (62%).
• Making a commitment for the length of time it takes to complete a degree (61%).
• Attending classes regularly (50%).

Adults are less worried by the concerns we typically associate with prospective college students fresh out of high school, such as:

• Finding a school or program that matches my needs and interests (perceived as a barrier to pursuing additional education by 34% of adults).
• Overcoming the fear of taking a risk and maybe not succeeding (33%).
• Deciding what subject to study or what degree to pursue (28%).
• Being able to learn the material and do well in class (26%).

Adults who had already gone back to school confirm that time and money were indeed the greatest obstacles, but in general, the levels of concern are lower than for those who have not had the experience of going back to school.

• Managing all of my other commitments and still finding time for school (considered “somewhat” or “very” difficult by 63% of those who have gone back to school).
• Finding the money to pay for school (58%).
• Providing for myself/family while in school (53%).

Of those who had gone back to school, most had overcome or were overcoming any obstacles to completing their educational goal.

• Nearly three out of four adults who returned to school have either completed their educational program or are still actively working to do so.
• Only 1 in 5 does not plan to complete their program.

Among those who would like additional education, those with college and post-graduate degrees are most confident in their ability to navigate the college admissions process.

• Applying for financial aid is the area of lowest confidence for would-be adult students.

Although many people want to go back to school, the thought of returning to school generates very mixed emotions — hopeful, nervous, excited, worried, confident, determined, energized.

• Those without a bachelor's degree are significantly more likely to feel nervous (41%) when they think about going back to school.

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