Here's a Post From Anonymous in Responce to: Why Do You Ask?

Here's why I might ask.
anonymous
Graduate education is an enormous investment of public funds into training researchers to conduct inquiry and scholarship. It is a means to an end, rather than an end in itself.

If someone begins a doctoral programme in their mid or late 50s, I presume (given usual completion times) that they will graduate in their mid 60s. That is late to begin a second career. I don't think it's an unfair question to ask whether the public investment in a graduate education will yield a public benefit in terms of a career spent in scholarly research.

Before you shout 'ageist!', by the way, I have the exact same feeling about those in their 20s or 30s who undertake Ph.Ds for the challenge, the personal accomplishment, because it's on their life-list, etc. etc. The term I like is 'vanity Ph.D.'

Some nontraditional students will pursue serious, important scholarly work after graduating, even in their 60s. Some young students will do bupkis with their costly training. So it's not purely an age thing... but age can have a bearing.

So, in answer to your question, 'why do you ask', I ask because I want to know how you are planning to make use of your set of credentials, paid for with the support of the public purse.

Letters of Recommendation

I asked a professor of English at the University of Arizona whom I had earned an A from in an Honors Class if he would write a letter of recommendation for me. He declined, explaining that I would be taking up a seat that would be better used by a young person who had their whole lives ahead of them.

Why Do You Ask?

I'm often asked why I am going to graduate school at my age, and I used to go into great detail in my response. Now when someone asks, I ask them: Why do you ask? They have a harder time explaining their answer than I do.

What are the Odds?.

What do you think the odds are of a 57 year old Caucasian male getting accepted into a doctoral degree program at Pepperdine University?

Distance Education

Distance Education

I have ten deliverables due within a five day period in my Foundations of Educational Law class. This is a good class with an active instructor, but he's obviously trying to cram the syllabus from a longer semester into our short format. This is what I'm talking about. Distance learners need classes that have been specifically designed for the online environment.

Distance Education

I've been attending traditional classroom courses for the past four years and decided to complete my masters in a mostly on-line environment. I've completed two inline courses so far, and am presently enrolled in my third.

My experience so far has been good, with the exception of one class. For the most part the online courses are well organized, and specific in their requirements. It is nice to follow an organized course of achievement, and I like this aspect of distance learning.

The one course that did not meet my expectations could probably be used in a case study of what not to do in designing an online course. It appears that the instructor attempted to force a fit between a class designed for on campus, and the online format. There were numerous inconsistencies, mass confusion, poorly designed assessments. Worst of all, the instructor became frustrated by all the questions he was receiving and basically held himself incommunicado for the last half of the class.