For Older Americans Who Went Back to College, the Pandemic Has Destroyed Decades-Long Graduation Dreams

The COVID-19 pandemic has dashed the hopes for many older Americans to graduate from college, reports CNN . The National Center for Education Statistics estimates that adult learners, defined as college students 25 and older, comprised 7.4 million of the 19.9 million students who were enrolled in colleges and universities last fall. Many of these older students have been nursing this dream for decades. Graduates like Siobhan Smith, 56, decided to go back to school after retiring. For Smith, college was an opportunity to prove to herself that she could do it and diminish the shame she felt about not attending a university in her youth. "I wanted to throw my cap in the air. I wanted my kids to be there and to be proud of me," she said. "It's not the most important part of achieving my goal but those ceremonial things are really important." Others have pursued graduate degrees to improve their employment prospects.