Why so many people return to college later in life - Essay Example

The cost of it is just too much for an average family to afford, and although student loans are available in most of the western countries, many still find it costly and therefore opt to not pursue college at all. Scholarship grants, on the other hand, are also available in most countries, but the stringent rules often discourage applicants. Besides, not everyone interested to avail are able to pass the qualifying examinations. Aside from the financial limitations which hinder many from pursuing college education, there have been other and very varied reasons.

Some who have been lucky to have landed good-paying jobs reason that they are already earning good in their jobs and therefore feel that they do not anymore need a college degree to earn. There are also those whose main reason is that they are tied up to family obligations such as raising a child or caring for sick relative. Other reasons include personal fears, insecurities, or just plain excuses to avoid going to college. To mention a few of them: perceived incapability to cope with college life; indecisiveness as to what they want to do with their lives; or even perceived inferiority for having only average grades which they believe are not admissible in college.

There are million other reasons why many go through life without college education. And while there are those who eventually find the happiness and contentment they seek in life even without college education, there are also many who wish to or are really working on going back to college later in life. It is interesting to understand why many people would want to or actually are going back to college later in life - to the stressful, fast-paced, mind-grueling life that so many among the younger generations would want so much to avoid.

Why do people in their forties, fifties even sixties would add stress to their otherwise laid-back, stress-free lives? Most common reason why people go back to college later in life is