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CNN Live Saturday

More Adults Head Back to College

Aired August 04, 2001 - 12:15   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DONNA KELLEY, CNN ANCHOR: With economic boom times going bust and layoffs on the rise, many adults are going back to school getting undergraduate and masters degrees. And many colleges are making it more convenient to do so. In a minute, I'll talk with someone who did go back to college.

But first, Kathryn Brandel of the American College Advisory Service joins me but from Washington. Hi, Kathryn. Glad you could come to talk with us.

KATHRYN BRANDEL, AMERICAN COLLEGE ADVISORY SERVICE: Thanks, Donna.

KELLEY: What are you seeing? A lot more people going back -- a lot more adults?

BRANDEL: A lot more adults. Since 1970, the number of students over 25 has tripled in colleges and universities. And the fastest growing segments has actually been the over 35 population.

KELLEY: Wow, what are they taking?

BRANDEL: A lot of them are looking for degrees that are closely aligned with the their career goals. Lots of business degrees. Lots of technology, more recently engineering. Anything that's going to keep them marketable in the workforce.

KELLEY: Are they advancing their fields or are they switching fields?

BRANDEL: Some are switching. A lot of them are looking for promotional opportunities both within their current organizations and to make themselves more marketable outside of their current place of employment.

KELLEY: So how do you go about it? When they come to you, is it is much the same as someone who's a younger person who wants to get into college? Do we have qualify? Do we have to go through an admissions process?

BRANDEL: Actually, it's quite different for someone who is an adult. It really depends on whether they're looking for an undergraduate or a graduate degree. The policies can be very confusing. People come to us at the American College Advisory Service because a lot of times they just don't know where to begin in trying to make choice between all of the programs that are out there.

KELLEY: And so where do they begin? How do they go through that process with you?

BRANDEL: We will tailor a program to fit the individual's needs. We do the research based on what they're interested in studying, what's going to help them, and the way that they want to study. There's lots of different ways now that students can complete degrees at all levels. They can do weekend programs, accelerated programs, evening programs and lots of online programs.

KELLEY: Yes, that's fabulous. What about online programs? How much does that offer? And how easy is that to get into?

BRANDEL: It will depend really on the individual college and university policies. Online programs have been proliferating especially in the last five years. They've just grown quite rapidly. And we find that one of the things that students sometimes overlook when they're looking for online program is whether this is truly a legitimately accredited program. That's something that I would emphasize for anybody who's looking at any kinds of a degree program, but particularly online.

KELLEY: Yes, and you talk about easy to skip class if you don't have to show up at your own computer, you better to be pretty disciplined.

BRANDEL: That's right. You have to be very disciplined and really set up schedule that's going to work for yourself. And take all of that into consideration before you enroll. Think about all of your responsibilities.

KELLEY: Yes, and then the options that you have, like you mentioned. It's very interesting. Kathryn, thanks very much.

We're going to talk to person who do that.

BRANDEL: Sure.

KELLEY: Steve Cole is an adult student. He's 59-years old. And he was a hospital administrator for about 33 years. Steve are you there?

STEVE COLE: Sure.

KELLEY: How did you make it through school and why did you decide to go back?

COLE: Well, I always wanted to teach. My wife has been a teacher lifelong. And she pretty much encouraged me to, you know, look at education. And I had been health care administration for number years. And I found an opportunity to come out of it and achieve that goal of teaching.

KELLEY: You know, that's what I started out to be was a teacher. And I come from a family of teachers. So I think that that's very interesting. What option did you choose? Did you go Internet? Did you go weekends, nights? What did you do?

COLE: I went mostly late afternoon. Mercer University down at Macomb, which is about an hour and half drive from where I live in Sample, Georgia, gave me the opportunity to come down there. Their requirements were not as strict as some of the state schools. They did not require as many courses. And so, I got into Mercer, started taking my courses. Many of them started at about 4:30 to 5:00 in the afternoon. So I was able to substitute teach during the day and then go to classes in the late afternoon.

KELLEY: Did you get any credit for your work experience? I mean you had 33 years as a hospital administrator?

COLE: No, I didn't. My students are getting benefit of that.

KELLEY: Yes, well that's fabulous. Yes, I mean, I think that's terrific. Did you have lot of homework and are you given a lot of homework?

COLE: No, I'm not the homework king. What I do is to present the students the opportunity to get an education. I talk to them about people skills, their selection of friends. One of the things that I always say is don't blame others. It's up to you to get your education. And in turn, all of this came about because you know school gave me the opportunity to go back and get my credits.

KELLEY: Well administrator and now teacher, Steve Cole. Nice to have you visit with us. Thanks very much along with Kathryn Brandel, who was with us earlier, who's the director of Academic Affairs for American College Advisory Service.

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