You have paid off the house, the cars, and the college loans. And while you are still loving your job, you are ready for a change. It is a great feeling knowing that you have accomplished your goals and still have energy to do more.
Anxious to contribute, your husband is surprised to know of your plan to reenroll in college classes. After a satisfactory career of keeping books for a fairly large manufacturing plant you have decided to go back to school and pursue a Masters Degree in adult education. As a former English major, you realize that you have some skills to teach many adults who are seeking to complete their first degrees. Unsure whether you will be teaching English and writing or accounting and office management skills, you know that a Masters Degree in adult education will allow you to pursue any of these interests and talents.
Have You Considered Pursuing a Masters Degree in Adult Education?
It is funny how adult lives can change from quickly. After what seemed like years of taking children to and from their activities, parents can suddenly find themselves with more time than they know what to do with once those children have become adults. And while weekend gold outings and traveling to vacation destinations can be relaxing, some adults find themselves looking for a way to contribute again. Whether that contribution looks like an adult instructor standing in front of a classroom of adults looking to further their education or like a student sitting in that class ready to learn, college classes are a starting point for many people who want to have an impact.
For the college instructors who may have just completed a Masters Degree in adult education, having an opportunity to teach new skills to a group of eager students can be very rewarding. When the college instructor is someone who has already lead a successful life that combined both family and career the real life lessons that can be taught are often as important as the accounting or writing skills. With a classroom full of students who have not had a chance to take classes after completing their secondary education, adult educators serve as a real stepping stone.
Could a College Degree Help You Reach Your Financial Goals?
For a variety of reasons, some people have not yet had the opportunity to complete the college degree that they know would help them create a more successful future. For some, an early pregnancy may have stopped any college degree plans. For others, financial limitations may have kept them from enrolling in the college classes that they wanted to take. Still others may have been high school graduates who were not ready for college and the hours of class time and studying that were required.
Circumstances change, however, and many people who have never attended college or who were not able to finish a degree they started decide later in life to return to their academic pursuits. A CNA, for example, may decide to not only complete a nursing degree, but also go on a take Physician’s Assistant classes. Armed with years of experience of working with patients and a variety of staff, these older learners often make the best students. With real life experience to make the textbook learning even more pertinent, people who return to college classroom while they are already working may find the classroom tasks more manageable.
Financially, completing a college degree makes perfect sense. For instance, research indicates that Americans with four-year college degrees made 98% more an hour on average in 2013 than people without that college degree. Turns out an investment in a college education, though costly at first, can pay for itself many times over. In fact, not going to college will cost can cost an American about half a million dollars. This amount takes into consideration average additional wages, as well as other benefits of a degree. Looking at the impact of a college degree on a week by week basis, the average hourly wage for college graduates is more than $32. Considering the bigger picture, a person with a bachelor?s degree has an average starting salary of $45,000.
Are you ready to make the move and pursue your career goals?