The fact that children go off to school every fall is expected and even required by law. We also expect those lucky young adults, whose parents can afford it, to leave for college about the same time.
Much less visible, but increasing in importance, are the approximately 10 million adults age 25 and over who also will go to school this fall.
People continue their education past age 25 for many reasons, not the least of which is to get a better job. A recent National Center for Educational Statistics survey found three major purposes for adults getting more education. One-third of the respondents over age 24 said they were working toward an academic degree, such as a bachelor`s or a master`s. These days it is quite common for college graduates to enter the workforce and find that career advancement will be stifled without a master`s degrees.
About one-fifth (21 percent) of the older students said they were getting vocational training for a specific occupation, such as driving a truck, or to obtain a license to practice a trade, such as plumbing.
Nearly half (46 percent) said they were in school just to continue their education. The vast majority of these students said they were taking non- credit courses for personal pleasure, personal development or general educational purposes.
However, three out of 10 of these continuing education students said they were taking courses specifically to improve their job skills. This job-related schooling is particularly vital in fields like health care and information processing where the technology is changing rapidly.
Among people working to obtain academic degrees, most are young baby boomers -- 70 percent are between the ages of 25 and 34. Likewise with vocational education: 55 percent are in that younger age group. But among people in continuing education, nearly two-thirds (62 percent) are over age 35.