BY MATTHEW DANEMAN December 23, 2011 6:22PM
David Reiser, center, is working on an associate's degree in automotive technology in hopes of starting a third career. Reiser spent 15 years as an Army medic and another 15 in building construction. MUST CREDIT: Photo by Brett T. Roseman
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Updated: December 23, 2011 8:41PM
Like many who?ve found themselves out of work, when Bolingbrook?s David Reiser lost his job last year as a construction estimator, he headed back to school.
But the 56-year-old grandfather isn?t exactly a typical junior college student.
The age issue ?is a little unsettling,? says Reiser.
?I definitely do get the looks walking through the halls,? says Reiser, who started Joliet Junior College?s automotive technology associate?s degree program earlier this year.
?It?s strange being older than your teachers,? adds Reiser.
But he?s not alone. An increasing number of people ages 50 and up are headed to community college ? 388,000 were enrolled nationwide in fall 2009, according to the most recent data available from the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC). That was up 6 percent from 2007 and more than 12 percent from 2005.
Nationwide, people over the age of 50 typically make up between 5 and 6 percent of community college enrollment, according to AACC figures.
At the same time, a growing number of community colleges nationwide are taking special steps to attract and accommodate those students. The Washington, D.C.-based AACC created the Plus 50 Initiative in 2008 with 13 schools aiming to provide enrichment programs of interest to older students.
?The timing of the program coincided with the economy tanking,? says Mary Sue Vickers, director of the Plus 50 Initiative. ?401(k)s dropped dramatically. Home values dropped. The colleges saw more and more of the people coming were coming for work force training or retraining.?
So the AACC refocused the program in 2009 on work-related issues and expanded it this year with an additional 11 schools, hoping those schools can be models for the nation?s 2,200 two-year postsecondary institutions.
At Joliet Junior College, Plus 50 materials declare that ?age is a state of mind? and that ?when minds expand, options do, too.? The school offers a ?refresh and review? class for adults returning to the classroom, covering such topics as math and reading.
?What we?re trying to offer them is accelerated programs that will not take them long periods of time to complete,? such as training to be tax return preparers, said Jerone Gamble, completion coordinator at the College of Central Florida, which was one of the original Plus 50 schools. ?We know there?s a need out there. And it?s conducive in that age category. Another attractive category is our security officer training program.?
These students have some specialized needs and issues such as the difficulty of finding decades-old high school transcripts, Vicker says. They are also ?very focused on getting through quickly,? she says. ?They?re interested in getting help from advisers or completion coaches to make sure they?re making the best choices of the classes they?re taking.?
Adding older students is also desirable for Illinois? community colleges.
While the number of degrees and certificates awarded in 2010 in Illinois increased 7.2 percent from fiscal year 2009, many of the colleges are seeing a softening in enrollment. llinois? community college board reported that the spring 2011 statewide head count was 381,582 ? a drop of 2 percent from 389,432 in spring 2010.
The age groups with the largest percentages of graduates were 21 to 24 (30.9 percent), 25 to 30 (17.8 percent), and 40 to 55 years of age (16.1 percent), the Illinois Community College Board reported.
Gannett News Service with AP
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