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: Influences in depth

In childhood and adult life, the most important conversations about higher education happen at home, according to the Degrees of Opportunity report.

Looking back at their growing-up years, adults most often point to their parents' influence as a factor in whether they pursued higher education.

• 70% say their mother was a major influence.
• 61% say their father was a major influence.
• Teachers were the third most likely to be a major influence, but to a much lesser degree; 32 percent say teachers influenced their decision.
• Only 18% say school counselors were a major influence – very similar to the influence of friends, siblings, and grandparents.

Expectations and encouragement at home and school are associated with higher education levels.

• Those with a bachelor's degree or higher are more than three times as likely as those without degrees to say they received encouragement at home and at school to continue their education after high school.
• Non-college graduates were more likely than those with a bachelor’s degree to have received the message that they weren’t “college material.”

In adult life, the immediate family continues to have the greatest influence on whether to go back to school.

• 51% say their spouse or partner has the single greatest influence.
• The second greatest influence is their children, but to a much lesser degree (9% say their children have the greatest influence).
• Only 4% list their boss as their greatest influence.

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