How to Go to College as an Adult: 10 Tips

Individuals who graduated from high school recently are not the only ones who can work on an undergraduate degree.

No matter your age or job, you can always choose to return to college for the first time or finish what you started.

Yes, as long as you meet the requirements, college admissions officers do not care about your age or career.

However, you will have to work harder than freshmen students to maintain a balance between your studies and personal and professional lives. Otherwise, something might end up being sacrificed.

Before you apply to a particular college, read on.

Below are 10 of the most important steps you will need to take to return to school:

1. Decide if you need a college degree
2. Choose between online and in-person schools
3. Research schools
4. Calculate the cost of attendance
5. Learn admission requirements
6. Visit colleges
7. Schedule a meeting with an academic advisor
8. Apply for admission
9. Apply for financial aid and scholarships
10. Seek support

1. Decide If You Need a College Degree

Prior to applying to a college or university, a working adult should determine whether or not going back to school is necessary.

He or she should first establish the need to work on an undergraduate degree as well as if having one is important.

There are many reasons why some professionals consider getting a college diploma.

Leading the list are career advancement and job market competitiveness — whether the goal is to get a promotion or land a dream job at another company, a bachelor’s degree under your belt can help make it happen.

Of course, many re-enter college for financial stability. But then there are also those who do it for personal growth.

So, before you fill out the Common App or Coalition App or a college’s proprietary application form, make sure that you find out if earning a college degree is what you need to meet whatever goal you may have in mind.

2. Choose Between Online and In-Person Schools

Many online degrees these days are as valuable as their traditional counterparts.

As a matter of fact, many brick-and-mortar schools, including numerous selective and prestigious ones, offer online degrees whose curricula are the same as their on-campus versions.

Needless to say, many employers of today accept degrees earned via the Internet.

As such, an adult who is planning on going back to school either to work on an undergraduate degree for the first time or finish what he or she started before should focus more on deciding between online and in-person colleges.

Considering reputation, of course, is important since your professional career is on the line.

Weighing the pros and cons of attending each type of school, however, is usually the deciding factor.

Whether or not you should go the online or traditional route is a matter of personal preference and how good your scheduling, organization and life balancing skills are because you don’t want any important aspect of your everyday life to suffer.

Lower costs and more flexible schedules are the best things about going to an online school.

But before enrolling, make sure that the institution is fully accredited — no one wants to earn a worthless degree from a diploma mill!

Attending school in-person gives the whole college experience, but you will have to work extra hard to maintain balance.

3. Research Schools

Like high school teens gearing up for their college careers, it’s also important for professional adults to carefully examine the various institutions they are considering before making a decision.

Since going back to school is going to consume both time and money, see to it that enrolling as a part-time student will be worth every dollar spent on tuition and fees and other college-related costs, as well as every hour spent on taking notes, reading textbooks, studying for exams and completing projects.

You should consider the same things that any incoming college freshmen students should.

Some of them include academic offerings, faculty member qualifications, location, student resources, and cost of attendance, which we will talk about shortly — so don’t stop reading now!

14 Best Colleges for Adults Returning to School

The vast majority of degree-granting institutions in the US welcome returning students, including those who have been away from school for years.

However, some colleges and universities are considered friendlier to adult learners.

See which of the following institutions below might fit well on your college list:

College	Location	Acceptance Rate	Part-Time Students
Columbia University	New York City, New York	6%	17%
Florida State University	Tallahassee, Florida	37%	7%
George Washington University	Washington, DC	50%	33%
Harvard University	Cambridge, Massachusetts	4%	5%
New York University	New York City, New York	13%	14%
North Carolina State University	Raleigh, North Carolina	47%	19%
Ohio State University	Columbus, Ohio	57%	14%
Purdue University – West Lafayette	West Lafayette, Indiana	69%	15%
Texas A&M University	College Station, Texas	64%	14%
University of California, Berkeley	Berkeley, California	15%	10%
University of California, Los Angeles	Los Angeles, California	11%	4%
University of Florida	Gainesville, Florida	30%	18%
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities	Minneapolis, Minnesota	73%	26%
University of Washington	Seattle, Washington	53%	19%
University of Wisconsin – Madison	Madison, Wisconsin	60%	11%

4. Calculate the College Cost of Attendance

Typically, the cost of attendance is cheaper for part-time students than for full-time students.

Simply put, you are considered a part-time student if you are taking less than 12 credits (or about 4 classes) per semester.

It doesn’t necessarily mean, however, that you should look into college costs with less enthusiasm.

Don’t just look at the tuition and fees — going back to college will also require you to shell out money on books, supplies, food, transportation and others.

Also, don’t just consider the sticker price — the actual cost of working on an undergraduate degree amounts to the published price minus financial aid and education tax benefits.

Choosing between a private non-profit and a for-profit school is also important in determining how much you will have to pay for college.

And if the goal is to save a lot of money, consider going to a public institution.

You can lower the already lower cost of attendance at a public school if you attend an in-state college, which, as the name suggests, is an institution that’s located in your state of residence.

Tuition at in-state schools is lower because they receive funding from the state government, which comes from the tax money of state residents.

5. Learn Admission Requirements

The admissions process is usually different for adult learners than for freshmen applicants. In most instances, admissions officers base their decisions on criteria other than the usual ones, such as recommendations, extracurriculars and test scores.

So, before you register for the SAT or ACT or get in touch with a former high school or college teacher of yours, head to the college of your choosing website or, better yet, email its admissions office.

Because you are not like any other applicants, it’s very much likely that the process of applying and the requirements to submit are different.

Montclair State University, for instance, has a separate online application form for adult learners.

Determining how to apply as well as what documents to submit can help make the process of going back to school considerably less stressful and daunting, thus making it more likely that you will push through with your plan.

6. Visit Colleges

Compared to full-time freshmen students, adult learners enrolled part-time are less likely to spend a lot of time on campus to make new friends, partake in on-campus extracurriculars and use the school’s facilities.

Still, those who prefer in-person classes will have to step foot on campus on a regular basis.

Attending a college whose campus you like can help you stay motivated to attend your classes and complete your coursework.

On the other hand, a campus that leaves you feeling like you are not welcome or don’t belong may negatively impact your GPA and mental health, thus causing you to drop out of college.

So, even if you are not a traditional student applying as a first-time, first-year student, take the time to visit the campus either in-person or virtually.

This is only unnecessary if you intend to attend completely online.

7. Schedule a Meeting With an Academic Advisor

An academic advisor is an individual who guides degree-seeking students through their college careers by helping them choose the right classes as well as make sure that they will meet all requirements for graduation.

Summing up, he or she is the initial contact of students who are pursuing their studies in a new institution.

Adult learners have different educational needs and preferences from first-time, first-year students.

And to help them fulfill those, meeting with an academic advisor is fundamental.

Assisting in the identification of the shortest possible route toward graduation so that adult learners can go back to focusing solely on their careers is a very important task of an academic advisor.

To ensure that you will not be wasting time and money on classes that are inessential to your undergraduate pursuit, consult an academic advisor without delay.

8. Apply for Admission

While the application form or process itself may differ for non-traditional adult learners from that of freshmen and transfer applicants, the deadline for application is usually the same.

The University of Alabama at Birmingham, for instance, has the same deadlines for priority consideration for both first-time first-year applicants and adult learner applicants.

Do take note that UAB offers rolling admissions, but the public research university has earlier deadlines for those who wish to apply sooner than everybody else.

Let’s take a look at the priority consideration deadlines at UAB for freshmen and adult learner applicants:

Incoming Semester	Freshmen Applicants	Adult Learner Applicants
Fall semester	1-Jun	1-Jun
Spring semester	1-Nov	1-Nov
Summer semester	15-May	15-May

Please keep in mind that application deadlines for adult learners may also differ from college to college, so make sure that you determine the deadline at your top-choice school.

9. Apply for Financial Aid and Scholarships

According to the Federal Student Aid itself, there is no age limit for receiving aid — almost everyone who is working on an undergraduate degree is eligible to receive some form of student aid from the federal government.

Like everyone else, you must also fill out the FAFSA and submit it before the deadline.

It’s not just the usual types of financial aid such as scholarships, grants and loans available for you but also others for which traditional college students are ineligible to apply.

So, in other words, they are exclusive to the type of learner that you are. Tuition assistance for employees or employer-sponsored financial aid is a very popular example.

Later, we will talk about various scholarship programs available for adult learners — so keep reading!

10. Seek Support

It’s not uncommon for adult learners to need to balance many things in their lives, including their studies, careers and family and social lives.

Because of this, they could use all the assistance they can get to ensure their educational success and avoid compromising some other equally important aspects of their lives.

Fortunately, colleges and universities have student service departments such as academic advising, counseling services and financial aid offices, all catering to traditional and non-traditional attendees.

Despite being older than most other students, adult learners should never be too shy to ask for help.

Non-traditional adult learners may also seek support from outside the campus, including their family members and friends as well as supervisors and employers.

By having a solid support system, they can enhance their educational experience and increase their chances of succeeding academically and professionally.

Going Back to School as an Adult: Where to Start

Because returning to college as an adult learner is a major decision, it’s not enough that you decide on which undergraduate major you should opt for.

There are simply so many things to take into account, including where to go, how to pay for the cost of attendance and how to keep your job while attending college.

Let’s tackle some of the most pressing ones in this part of the post.

Where to Start If You Never Went to College

In many instances, a smart move for working adults who want to go to college for the first time would be to enroll at a community college and take 1 to 2 classes or a few more to understand what it’s like being an undergraduate student.

Later, they may consider transferring to a 4-year institution before or after earning an associate degree.

Where to Start If You Want to Go Back to School

Generally speaking, it’s a good idea to return to the college you once attended if you wish to complete the degree program you once started but were unable to finish.

Look into its readmission policy, which allows you to re-enroll without having to go through the entire college admissions process all over again.

There is, however, a requirement as to how long you have been out of school.

For instance, at SUNY Empire State University, you must reapply for admission if you return after an absence of more than 3 years.

Unhappy with your previous college?

Consider going to another school this time, carefully researching your options.

Best Degrees for Adults Going Back to School

The best degree for adult learners can vary from one career goal to the other.

Generally speaking, the right undergraduate degree to work on is something that can help you get that promotion, a higher paycheck or a better job.

But it’s a good idea to look into accelerated bachelor’s degree programs, most of which are offered through online learning.

How to Go to College and Work Full-Time

Based on a report by Inside Higher Ed, around 70% of full-time college students have jobs.

Working professionals with full-time jobs can go to college alright, but it would be difficult for most to attend full-time.

Due to this, it’s not uncommon for adult learners to be part-time college students only, thus allowing them to manage their college and professional careers well.

A good strategy for going back to college while keeping your current career is to take some of your classes online.

But here’s a much better idea if you have a hectic everyday schedule: take only online classes.

Scholarships for Adult Students

As mentioned earlier, most adult learners are eligible to apply for federal aid to help lower the cost of their undergraduate education.

However, there are also scholarship programs from third-party providers that you might want to consider looking into, each made specifically for different adult learners.

Some of them include:

• Boomer Benefits Scholarship
• College JumpStart Scholarship
• Ford Opportunity Program Scholarship
• Return2College Scholarship
• Soroptimist ​​Live Your Dream Award

Adults Returning to College Statistics

In this part of the post, let’s talk about numbers — the age limit for going to college, the percentage of adult learners at most higher education institutions and how many careers out there require a college degree.

Is it Too Late to Go to College?

There’s no such thing as being too late to go to college for an adult who wants to get his or her hands on a college degree and take advantage of the many perks that come with having one.

In the US, colleges and universities do not have any maximum age limit for admissions. At Virginia Tech, for instance, the class of 2023 included an 85-year-old woman.

How Many Adults Go to College?

According to a report by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), back in 2021, around 34% of all undergraduate students at nearly 6,000 postsecondary institutions in the US are aged 25 and older.

But because adult learners have to take care of many things other than just their studies, they usually need to work harder than their traditional peers.

Do You Need College to Be Successful?

While many careers don’t require a college degree, many do.

For instance, 60% to 65% of jobs in many states require postsecondary education, the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce (CEW).

Still, it’s not enough to have a college degree to succeed — you will still need dedication, discipline, ambition and passion.