Is It Too Late To Study Psychology at 40?

Starting a college education as an adult in your 40s or 50s may seem at first like a wild idea. But is it? Could getting a degree in psychology be a good idea for you even though you're an adult?

Maybe you believe you're having a midlife crisis because you feel the need to do something more meaningful with your life than you've been doing to get along so far, day by day and year by year.

Even though the so-called 'normal' time to attend college or university is in your late teens or early twenties, only about 25% of enrolled students today actually fit that mold.

Is 40 too late to study psychology? Not at all. Today, even retirees are in school, working on new degrees and retooling for new careers. You could be, too.

What Does It Mean to Be a Nontraditional Student?

The most basic definition of a nontraditional student is one who is over the age of 24. Since nontraditional students now comprise close to three out of four university students in America, being nontraditional has become the new norm.

Students from their mid-20s through their 80s are the invisible majority whose tuition dollars support today's institutions of higher learning.

These are adult students who usually have family and work responsibilities and who may have put off completing their educations for more reasons than we could count.

The National Center for Educational Studies (NCES) labels the trend of older-than-average students returning to school as 'delayed enrollment.'

It includes students who took time away from school, attended on a very sporadic basis, took longer to progress, or failed to finish.

The Forties Cohort in Today's Universities

You might be surprised to discover that being a college student over 40 is no longer a rarity. One in every ten current college students is 40 years old and this demographic is growing.

While people in midlife may be more personally or professionally established in their lives, they are also at a point in life when the desire to retool, dream bigger, or even start over may feel compelling.

The demographic you are in has a lot of diversity. While many might envision a mid-career professional wanting to complete a degree to enhance their existing careers or increase their earning potential to move into higher management, that's not the only profile of a student in their 40s.

A 2018 report from the Postsecondary National Policy Institute found that nearly a quarter of students age 40 or older earn incomes of less than $20,000 per year.

Unfulfilled career goals, unemployment, layoffs, divorces, and no room for upward growth in their current jobs are also reasons for enrolling in their 40s.

As Dr. Marie Cini, president of the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning, has said, 'The decision for older adults to enroll in higher education has become more of an imperative than a recreational pursuit...It's becoming an economic necessity to plan for a longer working life.'

However, attending college in midlife no longer means going back to campus. Midlife students tend to have specific needs and goals different from those of the stereotypical college-aged 18 to 22-year-olds.

'Adults want to pursue their degree, have responsive faculty and support services, career services, and connections to employers. They are not trying to fit into the college culture as we traditionally know it,' Marie Cini has said.

The reality is that a large number of today's adult students enroll part-time while holding a full-time job, raising dependent children (many as single parents), or taking care of elderly parents.

How Universities Support Nontraditional-Aged Students Studying Psychology

The enormous rise of online degree programs, especially since the COVID-19 epidemic years, has created a cornucopia of opportunities for prospective students to find ways to gain the education they crave.

The past decade has seen the rise of many private universities catering exclusively to online students. However, the majority of online bachelor's degrees in psychology are available through state university systems, many at an extremely affordable rate for in-state students.

For nontraditional students, universities have adapted their modes of course delivery as well as broadened the number and types of degrees they offer online.

You can find both synchronous ('live') courses where you join in remotely to participate in a class with other students, or you can work at your own pace with asynchronous, self-learning courses.

Most colleges provide faculty advisors and support systems for online learners.

While most earlier online degrees were in applied business fields, today you can find dozens of online degree programs in fields like psychology.

You can earn a full degree or apply previously earned credits towards an online degree-completion program.

The quality of education is, in most cases, equivalent to what you would be learning in a face-to-face classroom, and these classes are taught by credentialed professors.

How Would I Pay to Earn My Psychology Degree in My 40s?

Universities have also found ways to make online education more affordable for nontraditional students by lowering tuition and fees. Many offer payment plans and alternate ways of financing.

Students may also find financial aid and assistance to lower their costs through:

Scholarships and grants

• employer assistance programs
• GI Bill, veteran discounts, and military waivers

Other tuition waivers

• CLEP exam and providing credit for work experience

A prospective student's best connection when looking to enroll in a university is one of the school's financial aid officers. This counselor can help you navigate all the many resources available to you, which most people are unaware of.

Where could I earn an online psychology degree mid-career?

Dozens of universities offer online psychology degrees at the undergraduate level--or, if you already have a college degree, you could earn an online master's degree in psychology.

Ten schools that offer online bachelor's degrees in psychology (in no particular order) include:

• Arkansas State University
• Chicago State University
• Mississippi State University
• New Mexico State University
• Oklahoma State University
• University of Alabama
• University of Arizona
• University of Idaho
• University of South Florida
• University of Texas, Permian Basin

Check out the public universities in your home state as well as some of the leading online universities to look for programs that interest you.

You Can Never Be Too Old To Start a Fresh Career

Is 40 too late to study psychology? Not at all! You're so much wiser now than you were in your twenties, so taking courses and applying what you learn to help other people will be so much more meaningful.

Make a commitment to yourself to make your forties the decade to explore, learn, and develop your personal knowledge and interests. Earn that psychology degree!