Why workers in their 40s are going back to school

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. It’s tough to go back to school in your 40s. But with layoffs, stagnant pay and inroads by artificial intelligence, many of those nearing midlife are heading back to classrooms and trade schools.

Some are making radical career changes, going from chef to software engineer. Others are getting higher degrees to stand out from peers as qualification standards intensify. Some who skipped college after high school return to the classroom because they can’t get top jobs without degrees.

Returning to school isn’t easy. Those in their 40s often have to juggle work, family and academics. They take on new debt when peers are entering peak-earning years.

The average cost of in-state public college is about $30,000 a year and much more for private nonprofit schools. For many, it’s worth it. People are living longer and aren’t retiring at 65.

Cindy Woody earned her master’s at 41 and completed her doctorate at 47. “I’m a good investment," says Woody, an assistant professor of educational leadership at the University of Texas at Tyler. Longevity, she says, runs in her family. Her great grandmother lived to almost 100.

Woody worked full time while going to school, quit watching TV and handed off housework to family members while she attended in-person classes at night and on Saturday. She wrote papers between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m.

or on Sunday afternoons. More than 1 million people in their 40s are enrolled in undergraduate or graduate programs, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Many are looking to make more money in the white-collar world and have greater job security, even at a time when many younger people are questioning the value of a college degree.