Pursuing a college degree is challenging at any age, but when you are a senior citizen it is an even bigger challenge. Last week I could not help but observe, on one of our billboards, the face of an elderly lady. Below her picture was an acknowledgment of the fact that she was the eldest person to receive a college degree. At age 95, Nola Ochs decided to finish the education she had started more than 77 years before. In May of 2007, she graduated along side her 21 year old granddaughter, Alexandra Ochs, at Fort Hays State University in Kansas.

Mrs. Ochs, although 95 years old, made many friends among those she attended classes with. She has stopped counting her birthdays and has to be reminded of how old she really is.

Mrs. Ochs had started a correspondence course called Directed Study on April 19th, 1930. That was 77 years before she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in history. She entered Fort Hays State as a senior and she, like most college students, lived in a dorm for non traditional students. There she spent many hours doing her homework and studying her college classes. But she isn’t going to stop now, her next step is to pursue a Master’s degree.

Opportunities have changed in the 21st century. Students can get their degrees online with ease. Colleges and Universities are tailoring their educational experience to these non traditional students. With an elderly person, such as Mrs. Ochs, who can take the classes more to their conveniences with no driving necessary, student profiles are growing in both age and number. These students can sit in their living room receiving the same education as students acquire attending classes on college campuses, just by having a computer. As spry as she appears, who knows where she will stop.