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Millions of U.S. adults enroll in credit and noncredit college courses to earn professional certifications, learn new skills, or achieve academic degrees. Some older students are looking for career advancement, higher pay and job security, while others want to explore personal interests or try new things. Older students, many of whom bring years of work and life experience to their education, are often juggling classes with full-time jobs, caregiving and other family responsibilities. It’s a tough balancing act, but it can also clarify priorities and provide a sense of fulfillment.

Here’s some information on what experts say about going back to school, what to consider ahead of time, and how to balance classes with work and personal commitments.

Why do more people want to continue learning?

UCLA Extension, the continuing education department of the University of California, Los Angeles, offers more than 90 certificate and specialization programs, from interior design, early childhood education and accounting to photography, paralegal studies and music production. Individual courses cover a wide range of topics, such as retirement planning, novel writing, the work of athletes and artists, and the ancient Japanese art of ikebana, or flower arranging.

About 33,500 students were enrolled last academic year, about half of whom were over the age of 35. UCLA reported full-time enrollment of approximately 32,600 degree-seeking undergraduate students during the same period.

“I prefer to refer to our (adult) students as not only continuing but also new majority students. These are students who tend to be currently employed, often supporting a family, looking for skill development or sometimes a career change,” said Traci Fordham, UCLA’s interim associate dean for academic programs and learning innovation.
Higher education experts say some adults are taking classes for professional development as economic concerns, technological advances and other workforce changes create a sense of job insecurity. “A great example of this is artificial intelligence. These new technologies are coming out pretty quickly, and people who got degrees even just 5 or 10 years ago may find their knowledge a little bit outdated,” he said.

What should you ask yourself before returning to school?

Adults considering becoming students again may want to evaluate their time and budget and weigh the potential benefits and consequences, including financial impact, potential for burnout, and educational rewards that may take some time to materialize, academic advisors say.

Deschamps suggests asking where you want to be in 5 or 10 years and how the education and knowledge you receive through an additional course or certification can help you get there. For example, if you want to start a small brewery, learning to brew your own beer or starting a business will help you. If the goal is a promotion or career change, training for a new job, refreshing skills or understanding a different industry can help show that you’re qualified.

Schools like UCLA and Northern Arizona University are working to make continuing education courses accessible by keeping the cost low and offering financial aid compared to undergraduate-level classes. A variety of learning environments, including face-to-face and online classes, accelerated and self-paced learning, are often offered to help adults integrate schoolwork with their home and work lives.

Katie Swavely, assistant director of academic advising and student success at UCLA, started out at community college before transferring to UCLA to study anthropology. After graduation, he said it took him 10 years to return to get a master’s degree in counseling with a focus on academic advising.