Degrees offer pathways to new opportunities, professional advancement
No longer is a college classroom the sole domain of students aged 18 to 22. Across the Region, a growing demographic of older, nontraditional students is heading back to campus.
These professionals are shifting gears, in a lot of cases, to pursue a second act. This transition often comes with financial costs, sacrifices and investments in time and energy.
Through specialized initiatives like Holy Cross College’s Transition to Teaching program, local institutions are finding new ways to prepare working adults for different career paths. According to Ann Bingham, who oversees the college’s program, this decision represents more than just a career change. For many, it’s fulfillment of a lifelong vocation.
Transition to teaching
If you ask Bingham, the push to bring experienced adults into the teaching profession was a strategic response to a growing crisis in education. In April, there were more than 1,800 unfilled educator jobs listed on the Indiana Educator Job Board. Schools have been struggling to find qualified educators for years, leading to an increase in emergency permits.
Bingham, a former educator, has seen this evolution firsthand. The T2T program at Holy Cross launched in fall 2020 to address this issue of supply and demand.
“What we were finding is more and more we have teachers with emergency permits … they’ve got great hearts,” Bingham said. “They want to work with children, but they do not yet have the expertise and the pedagogy and the content knowledge to be as successful as they would need to be in the classroom.”
The goal was to take professionals who already have life experience and equip them with the necessary educational foundation. The program attracts adults of all ages, from those right out of college to candidates in their early 50s.
Vocation vs. career change
According to Bingham, the motivations for returning to school to ultimately find a place in the classroom vary among older students. Some candidates tried entirely different careers first before realizing something was missing. Others started by simply volunteering at their children’s schools. They took jobs as classroom aides and soon realized they had a true calling for the work. As Bingham contends, for many of these nontraditional students, teaching is viewed less as a job and more as a vocation.
“You realize this is what you want to do and what you are called to do,” she said.
For others, returning to school can mean improved quality of life. An adult learner at IU Northwest, Tim Smith of Hammond is pursuing a Bachelor of Science in public affairs with a focus on human resources. Smith, who previously worked in public services and technology roles, decided to return to school as a way to transition from physically demanding jobs to a management position that offers better pay and career longevity.
“I felt like getting my degree was necessary, not only for my own career but also for my family,” he said. “It was important for my children to see me obtain a degree that I’ve never had, to show them the value of pursuing higher education.”
Smith admitted the journey hasn’t been easy, especially balancing part-time work, health challenges and returning to the classroom after years away. Still, he’s found the learning process motivating and credits both campus support and his family for keeping him on track.
Diava Carter, director of career services at Indiana University Northwest, knows that returning to higher education as an adult comes with a unique set of challenges and evolving trends. That’s the case for students and the institutions that support them. Carter works directly with nontraditional students and alumni as they navigate career changes and seek new opportunities.
Internships and practical experience have never been more important, especially with experience required for many professions, such as healthcare administration.
“One of the things that we are stressing the importance of is obtaining an internship; so, before students graduate, get that internship,” Carter said, emphasizing both traditional and micro-internships as crucial stepping stones to employment.
She mentioned initiatives like Parker Dewey, which offers short-term micro-internship opportunities for students and alumni. These experiences help them build real-world experience and improve employability.
Online and hybrid academic programs as well as evening courses are now in high demand among nontraditional students balancing work and family. Carter also highlighted common challenges older returnees face, including competition with younger candidates, worries over ageism and family obligations.
“Many of the older students feel that they have to switch their degree, or they have to do something different … because of the competition of the younger individuals. So, they often get discouraged,” she said.
In her estimation, confidence and the ability to embrace change can be significant barriers, along with financial questions such as affordability and loan options.
“Don’t be afraid to change — have that confidence. Be OK with the switch,” Carter said. “With all of these different changes that’s going on with the loan situation and affordability — financial components could definitely play a part in regards to why students may or may not return back to school.”
Destination: MBA
David Garton views his decision to self-finance his MBA at Purdue University Northwest as an investment in his autonomy and career flexibility.
“Choosing to self-finance my MBA was a deliberate move to ensure total autonomy over my career trajectory,” he said. “Without the constraints of reimbursement contracts, my commitment to my work and my studies is driven entirely by personal accountability and the desire to extract maximum value from the program.”
Garton, who’s 38 and lives in Dyer, leads technical applications and engineering efforts for a company specializing in refractory metallurgical lances in the steel industry. His path began in sales and transitioned into engineering management, but he realized that advancement into organizational leadership required more than technical expertise.
“My journey with the company started in a sales capacity, where I focused on scaling our reach across the local Region steel mills,” he said. “Moving into engineering management allowed me to leverage my technical roots, and my current MBA studies are providing the final piece of the puzzle: a comprehensive business perspective.”
Garton said balancing a full-time management career and a demanding evening study schedule has brought both challenges and growth. But the impact on his career has already been significant.
“The MBA has fundamentally shifted my approach from a purely technical lens to a more holistic, strategic perspective of organizational health,” he said. “Beyond a deeper mastery of financial reporting and quarterly metrics, I now find myself evaluating projects through the lenses of opportunity cost, risk mitigation and long-term market positioning.”
He encourages others to look past the line-item cost, viewing the MBA as a strategic tool for leadership rather than just a pay raise.
“If you only view it as a line item on a balance sheet, it looks expensive; but when you view it as gaining the vocabulary of executive leadership and a lifelong network, the math changes,” Garton said. “For someone established in their career, the goal is to pivot from being a technical expert to a strategic leader, and that’s where the real value lies. It’s about more than just pursuing a higher salary; it’s about gaining the knowledge to truly understand why certain decisions are made and having the confidence to lead through them.”
Balancing act
Garton is not alone in his experience managing all of these obligations. One of the biggest hurdles for older adults returning to higher education is time management. Traditional college schedules don’t usually work for adults juggling 9-to-5 jobs, mortgages and family responsibilities.
With these constraints in mind, programs like T2T have to be highly flexible. However, Bingham is quick to clarify that flexibility doesn’t mean rushing the process. Some online programs promise a teaching license in a year, but Holy Cross takes a more measured approach.
“We are mindful of the fact that the clock is ticking, but like a good sauce, you don’t want to rush the process,” Bingham said.
Candidates typically complete the program in three to four years by taking one or two classes a semester. The coursework is broken down into manageable, bite-sized pieces. Classes are held one night a week, allowing students to maintain their day jobs.
“They can still be working, they can still be on the emergency permit, or they can still be working as an aide in the classroom,” Bingham said. “We accommodate that, so they can keep providing for their families, and at the same time, be working towards their credential.”
This deliberate pacing ensures that new teachers are genuinely prepared. Without proper classroom management skills and pedagogy, new teachers often burn out within three to five years. Taking time on the front end can set them up for success in a long-term career.
Overcoming financial barriers
Financing a return to college is another pressing concern for older adults. Taking on new student debt while managing existing financial obligations can stop even the most promising career change in its tracks.
To counteract this reality, educational institutions and the state of Indiana have developed robust funding mechanisms for aspiring teachers. Holy Cross keeps its tuition deliberately accessible, charging $1,200 per course for T2T candidates.
Beyond what she considers fair pricing, the state offers significant support. For the past several years, Indiana has provided full-tuition scholarships specifically for T2T candidates.
“What I have found is that any of my candidates who have applied for it, they have gotten that funding, and that has supported their coursework,” Bingham said.
Schools hiring emergency-permit teachers also frequently use specific funds to pay for their candidates’ tuition. Financial aid offices work closely with returning students to build the best possible packages. Ultimately, Bingham said, money rarely ends up being the barrier that prevents completion.
Joy Colwell, director of graduate studies at PNW and professor of organizational leadership and supervision, addresses the concerns around financing head on. She contends that PNW is a cost-effective institution, relatively speaking.
PNW graduate credits for Indiana residents are around $350 each, she said, so a 30-credit master’s degree program would cost around $10,500 in tuition and composite fees. (College fees and texts are not included in this price.) Nonresident students pay about $532 per credit hour.
Beyond helping students navigate the costs, Colwell and her team work with all the grad students and programs on campus. PNW offers 19 programs at the graduate and doctoral levels and several graduate-level certificate programs.
“My office supports admission and graduation of graduate students, development of new academic programs and helps graduate students with any challenges they may experience,” she said.
Sometimes that means taking it slowly and steadily. For example, Colwell said that many returning adult students take one or two classes (three to six credit hours) per semester (as opposed to a full-time load of nine credits), to help balance their busy schedules. Many of PNW’s master’s degree programs can accommodate part-time students and those who aspire to complete a degree in a reasonable amount of time.
As for returning students’ potential fears about being “too old,” Colwell challenges this bias.
“Our mid-career students bring a richness to our classrooms that is very valuable,” she said. “Insights into the workplace experience make those classroom discussions more enlightening for everyone.” •
Read more stories from the current issue of Northwest Indiana Business Magazine.
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