More Than Half of Adults Want To Continue Their Education

Do adults have an interest in continuing to pursue education after they get into the workforce? You bet they do. Obtaining an advanced degree is one of the best ways to advance your career, and professionals in all areas of business are pursuing these degrees at a higher rate than ever.

One particularly interesting study on this trend, called "Degrees of Opportunity", says that more than half of all adults want more education. And, even though pursuing advanced education can be extremely difficult once other aspects of life, such as career, marriage and children have kicked in, those who have pursued an advanced degree still believe it was worth their effort. In fact, 50% of the people who have pursued an advanced degree after entering the workforce wish they'd done it sooner.

Why are we so anxious to go back to school? Well, according to this survey, the reasons are wide ranging. You'd probably guess that people want to go back to school to increase their earning potential, and this was one of the top reasons. However, many people also cited a personal sense of accomplishment, a development of their talents and interests, a desire to change careers and the desire to be a good role model for their children as reasons for pursuing advanced education. So, what holds us back? Well, there are two main reasons, and they're probably no secret to most of us. The first is time management. Many of us remember spending long nights studying during undergraduate school when our entire life was dedicated to the pursuit of our degree. Imagining having to balance those same long study sessions with a career and family can seem overwhelming. The second primary reason is cost. The costs of education are soaring, and many people who would love to pursue an advanced degree simply cannot afford to do so. If you're lucky enough to have a tuition reimbursement benefit at your place of employment, you should take advantage of this great opportunity.

There seem to be quite a few advantages to pursuing our advanced education when we're a bit older. Even though most students who are pursuing an advanced degree are doing so while managing a career and a family, they are still far more likely to complete their degree than the young buck who enters undergraduate school right out of high school. Nearly three out of four adults who returned to school after the age of 25 said they have either completed their educational pursuit or are still in process of pursuing it, while only 1 in 5 said they don't plan to complete the program they've begun.

This trend of returning to school seems to affect both genders fairly equally. 49% of returning students are men, 45% are women. Both men and women believe that their extended education has been beneficial, and both believe that the benefit is worth the financial investment. African American women seem to be the most likely group to return to school after the age of 25. In fact, 59% of the African American women in the study who returned to school did so after this age.

This study also shows us that the desire to learn and advance our education does not stop as we age. In fact, adults in their 50s are just as likely to pursue advanced education as their younger counterparts. However, in this age group, students are more likely to be pursuing their further education for the sheer love of learning than for the opportunity to advance their careers.

So, as you can see, the desire to learn does not decline as we grow older. And, with more and more of us returning to the classroom when we're significantly past the traditional college age, we can feel even more comfortable with obtaining that degree at any age!

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