Going back to school when you’re employed means debt, earning way less or nothing during your bachelor or master, stress, opportunities you’re not aware of because you’re simply not at your workplace anymore

Don’t quit your day job. Do school in your non-work hours. This is how I did it. I stayed professionally employed and I went back at 30 years old. I did school for about 3 years part-time to get a 2-year Associates degree. Because I went with Community College and did only 1 or 2 classes per term, I never had to take on debt.

I used that Associates degree and got a better paying job that also came with a tuition reimbursement program. It paid 75% of books and tuition up to a certain dollar figure per year (IRS limit). Again, because I was going to school part-time in my off-hours, I simply never exceeded that IRS limit to extra the maximum reimbursement. I finished by Bachelors degree before turning 40. Again, I graduated with zero debt because I kept my professional employment and used the tuition reimbursement benefit. With that Bachelors degree I was able to get an even better job which lead to significant pay raises in the years that passed.

So, I disagree with your original premise that going back to school as a working adult has to means unemployment, debt, and loss of income. I’m not going to say what I did was easy, but what I did a little while ago is also still possible today. I have a close friend that is a year older than me that got his Associates around the same time I did using the same “keep your day job, do school partime” method, but he didn’t start his Bachelors when I did. However, he did so later. He graduates, getting his Bachelors, in two months from now!

When you’re dead.

Sorry but it’s never a stupid idea. It’s only a situational thing where the question is whether you can make it work. That’s not necessarily age related.

Actually going through the other side of this right now with a kid not doing well at school. At what point is it a better idea to consider a gap year? The problem is any age after schooling is interrupted is much harder to get back. Some people make it work, fantastic, but once you hop off the treadmill you’ll probably stop running

When you’re dead.

My Mother got her Bachelor’s degree at 55. She graduated with some rare honours.

NEVER stop learning!

depends why you are attending school. If it’s to get a piece of paper, likely will not affect you later in life. if it’s just to learn, walk in and audit a class. I have never said no to people auditing my lectures.

It’s got nothing to do with age. As you pointed out there are financial reasons where you might not be able to. But that’s realy the only hurdle. And there are plenty of ways to clear it.

Depends on your situation and objective. If you’re currently employed and want to increase potential earnings in the same track, then probably around 30/35 from my personal judgement. You should really have enough professional experience and context at that point to make up for a degree, especially if you’re engaging in continuing education, staying up to date on professional articles, watching conference talks, etc.

If you’re looking to get an MBA to move into a management track, it’s probably worth it later in life until like your 40s and 50s earnings wise.

If your current industry is tanking and you need to pivot to a new one, then you don’t really have any other options than to reskill no matter how old you are.

If you just want to learn philosophy or history independent of your work, then there’s not really a point where it’s too late, just how many classes you have time for which is wholly dependent on your life circumstances and doesn’t depend on age.

It’s never too late. If you’re 110 you might not make it to graduation though.

I went to school with quite a few mature students. They were all great classmates.

Lots of seniors go because they want edification. Never a stupid idea.

Now if you are asking financially, that depends on the time and cost of the program and the anticipated market for that kind of work. Do the math. Cost of school (tuition, books, materials and living expenses x number of years of the program) - opportunity cost of not working your current gig during those years, + the estimated differential of what you reasonably think you could make for the remainder of your new career before retirement.

Every program, job market and tuition support is different. Do the math with your own local info.

Never?

When you’re dead?

I’ve seen 70-80 year olds get degrees

It is never too late to go back is not bullshit.

people have jobs, debts and rent to pay.

I had all of the above and a family to support and I went back to school and got my masters degree.

The only time going to school isn’t worth it is if you’re already burnt out in your job, genuinely have no time to do it, and make so much money that adding university classes on top of that isn’t worth the effort or time investment. Having said that, if you need the degree to increase your earning potential, even in your 30s or 40s or whatever, then it’s worthwhile despite all the challenges. My mom got her degree in her 30s and massively increased her earning potential and that has paid off over the decades, and I’m currently getting my degree in my 30s to increase my earning potential as well.

There are remote school options where you don’t need to attend classes so those are much easier to fit into your schedule, and much cheaper, places like Western Governors University.

Never. Not what you want to hear,but hear me out. Because if it safes your sanity it is worth it.

• I got my apprenticeship as a paramedic first and then went back to school to get my full A-Levels. Specialized school we have here,thankfully for these cases. The oldest one of my classmates was 52.

• I studied economics with someone who was 55 and basically had already done the job we all wanted when we graduate for 25 years. He did so so he finally would get a more comprehensive background and maybe get up the ladder once more. (Which according to linked in he did)

• I currently do another master (in a distant education setting,though) simply out of interest in the field and to broaden my CV. And you know what? I am 25 years in my field and still learned a fuckton of things, got a better network, love the research field AND got so much better at my job AND found a lot of opportunities.

• An former paramedic trainee of mine was almost 50 when he started paramedic training. He was a C level executive before and at one point had enough - he changed careers so he would not get even more depressed and is now very happy with it. And I had multiple people do that in my bubble.

Now,from my current perspective: Was it stressful? Fuck yeah. I literally cried sometimes. Was it a tough time financially? Fuck yeah. I am self employed/have a small company and I had month were making ends meet was really though due to the added expenses and the lost revenue. But it still was worth it. Because: For what it’s worth we all gonna need to work till 70+x anyway to afford retirement. And that’s a long time.

I have a friend that is taking courses at 50… but we’re not in the US