Yes, depending on your income you can qualify for a Pell Grant from the fed. You can also get student loans, but I wouldn't recommend that for a community college. They're generally cheap enough that you won't go broke paying for classes.

This is true. There's a guy in my thermodynamics class that has to be in his 60's, another guy is probably in his early 40's and I'm 31. Now that I think about it there's a guy in my statics class who is mid-late 30's, has a graduate degree of some sort and is going for a BS in some engineering field. There is no lack of older people at a university.

In some ways it will be easier for you than younger students. You'll probably be a bit more driven than 19 year olds, your life experience has the potential to help in many ways and I find that I'm more comfortable dealing with professors than students who are 10 years younger than I am. I've actually had some lecturers younger than me.

28? I've had people in their 50's in some of my classes.

As other people have said, go to a CC for 2 years and then transfer to a 4 year school.

Good luck!

2012 is right around the corner, there are no jobs, why do you want to do this again?

If you really want to go to college do the smart thing and do a quick program related to healthcare (which is the only field with jobs now and in the future according to stats).

Dental assistant is one of them. I hear it doesn't take long and you will definitely get a job. Go to one of these places where you can become a registered nurse. These are the jobs that are in demand and pay well and you won't have to spend 4 years studying for.

I'm pretty sure an RN is 4 years.

A newcomer to the field will make $10-$12 an hour depending on where you live and with 5+ years of experience you are looking at $16-$22/hr. Far from paying well but becoming a CDA doesn't take long and is fairly inexpensive and would serve as a great stepping stone to becoming a hygienist which offers a lot more pay.

eek. I have absolutely 0 interest in that stuff.


I want to go to college for intellectual stimulation, learn stuff, get a degree of some kind, be able to say I'm like the only one out of my immediate family other than my mother who went to college, and I have a pretty hard boner for science right now and college is an outlet for that.

If I go to school and get a degree and there are no jobs in that field, meh. I'll just keep playing poker and see what happens.

BTW I recommend talking to University advisers when selecting CC classes, and if possible find a transfer guide for your selected major. CC counselors are notoriously bad in most cases. The ones at my CC put me in at least 4 classes that did not transfer.

There is no such things as a quick program in healthcare that pays well. Most RN programs take 2 t o 4 years to complete. Dental assistant is a pink collar job.

Go to the library or better yet browse the internet. We are in the internet age all the intellectual stimulation you need is found with the click of a mouse. You have an outdated mentality. You need to go to college to get a good job to hell with intellectual stimulation! "intellectual stimulation" is going to put you in debt up to your eye balls!

btw check this out

Drowning in Debt: US students helpless to pay off education
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYFJnCmj-H4

No, there are two year RN programs.

This is so true. I met with an advisor when I first started at the CC I went to. He at least admitted that he didn't have a clue about what I should do.

I knew what I wanted to major in and where I wanted to go, so I went to the website for the school, looked up their transfer requirements and handled everything myself.

I also recommend speaking with a transfer advisor at the university you want to end up at. They'll be able to give you the best advise on how to get accepted into the school itself and into your desired program.

That most respected health care institutions are shifting away from hiring from.

Word to the wise: If you get an AA and transfer into a tough major (bio, physics, pretty much any hard science), you will get pummeled with all majors courses. I always recommended to transfers to NOT get an AA but instead get a broad swath of transferable courses. Leave yourself some easy gen ed courses to intersperse with your tougher courses.

No, he has the correct mentality.

Doing something to just get a job is an awful idea. It's a great way to be miserable for 8-12 hours per day for the rest of your life.

The people who are up to their eyeballs in debt are people who don't have a clue. There are so many grants and scholarships available out there that there's no reason to not end up with most of your education paid for through those grants and scholarships.

If you're going to a state school there's no reason to have any more than ~30k in debt at most upon graduation.

Out of $18500 for tuition, housing, food, books, etc for the year I have a student loan of $4078. After 2.5 years here to finish my BS, I'll hardly be up to my eyeballs in debt. My situation is not out of the ordinary either.

The community college I did my gen ed's, math and science pre-reqs at cost $56.50 per credit hour up to 16 credits (no additional charge beyond 16). If you're supporting yourself and not making a ridiculous amount of money per year you can easily get the maximum amount for a Pell grant ($5550/year) which should more than cover the cost of the CC.

When he's ready to transfer, getting a subscription to US News' University ratings is a good idea. They have pretty good information on how each school handles covering tuition for its students.

You need to take college level prerequisites to get in. Most programs have you take at least 5 or more classes of fairly difficult chem/bio classes.

I would imagine this depends on the program. The ones I've seen have four or so Bio classes, but little or no chemistry. The rest is a few gen ed's and nursing classes.

I'm gonna have to disagree with most of the people who have posted. 28 is pretty old imo. You're gonna finish your undergrad degree when you are 32? It sounds like school isn't really your thing. Not everyone has to go to college. For you it seems like some sort of technical school would be a better option. I would not go to school full time right away. I think it would be a better idea to work and take 1-2 classes on the side. If you do well then switch over to being a full time student.

Wow you must be terribly experienced in the going back to college as a non-traditional student field amirite? If you finish at 32 that leaves you 33+years to have a new career.

I'm 32 and just went back to school. After nearly ten years being a carpenter/cabinetmaker I just decided it wasn't what I wanted out of life. I got good grades in hs and ok grades my first couple of years of college, but never finished.

1. College as an old person is awesome.
2.You go to class, do your homework, and are interested in what you're studying.
3.There are tons of hot chicks all over the place to secks.
4.You can party, but it's not like you haven't done it before so you actually get ur **** done.

If you have pokers to make some manies there really is no reason not to go back to school. And **** community college, find a way to get into a proper university: state schools are pretty easy game imo.

Your loans/grants depend on your income. If you claim your online winnings (and make decent money), you won't get as many grants but will still be able to get loans. If you don't claim and don't show very much income at all you should be able to get good grants/loans to cover most if not all of the tuition and living expense. Blah blah blah has anyone mentioned FAFSA? Do it bro, you got nothing to lose.

What state do you live in?

stfu zoltan!

(wat's an AA? )


Oklahoma

associate's degree (2 year). A lot of 4 year schools accept instate transfers (and waive gen ed requirements) if you have an aa. Trouble is, you're left with nothing but majors courses most likely.

Most cc's will have a page like this one that outlines course equivalencies. http://transferu.collin.edu/equivalencies.html

Best bet: talk to advisors in the department at the 4-yr school you want to go to. They usually have the autonomy/power to decide whether a course will transfer or not and have more information than anyone in this forum.

I should have been more clear in my post. My point was that for him going back might now might be -ev from a financial standpoint. If he really wants the college experience, or really wants to get into a field/job that requires a degree then it might be worth it to him to take the hit obviously.

I don't know how the community college system works in Oklahoma, but in CA they have a bunch of different programs where you can get guaranteed acceptance into good 4 year universities if you complete certain requirements during your time at community college. Would definitely be worth looking into.

^^This, but he'd probable be better off looking for that on the website of the university he wants to go to.

technical school? Do you mean trade(electric, plumbing, auto) if the OP is good/likes to work with tools than that is a great idea.