Bryant & Stratton

In today’s job market, you need any competitive advantage you can get. And one of the best ways to stand out is to earn your college degree. While many older adults may think college is just for the young, it’s important to know that today people of all ages are going to college.

“It’s an idea called lifelong learning,” says Heather Macknik, director of admissions for Bryant & Stratton College’s Liverpool campus. “Today, millions of adults nationwide, many with children of their own, are going to college—or going back to college—to either train for a new career, or earn the degree they need to advance in the career they already have.”

Le Moyne and Loretto team up to offer eldercare in a 30-credit degree

Youth is deeply coveted in the United States. Obsessed with looking younger, longer, Americans slather their faces with anti-wrinkle creams, pay for facelifts and attend gyms like the devout visit chapels in attempts to hold onto their glorified 20s. However, for America’s approximately 76 million baby boomers experiencing or approaching senior status, a desire to stay young is being replaced with a need to seek age-appropriate care.

The explosion in green technologies has many adults returning to the classroom

In an economy increasingly devoid of the glamorous green of the dollar bill, many people are seeking a new kind of green: employment. Amid the Al Gore-inspired focus on global warming and the eye-popping gas prices that are sure signs of the apocalypse, the environmentally friendly trend toward green jobs has taken off in the past few years.

When I decided to go back to college, my choice was based on the field of study I wanted to pursue. I didn't settle for a college based solely on cost, but gave more thought to what I really wanted from this investment. Which college would give me the most for my money? Which college offered flexible classes that would fit into my busy schedule? Which college would provide access to the latest technologies and a wealth of professional opportunities? The answer: Syracuse University.

If there’s one thing you learn in life it’s that learning doesn’t stop when you leave the classroom. While most of us think of a high school classroom or college lecture hall when we envision learning, today’s fast-paced society requires more ways for us to gain the knowledge we seek to be successful in our careers and lives.

There are lots of exciting things happening at the graduate level at St. John Fisher College in Rochester.

Phillips Hairstyling Institute is celebrating its 29th year in business and is the only private national accredited beauty school within a 70-mile radius of Syracuse. “At one time there were five private beauty schools in Syracuse,” explains Steven C. Phillips, owner and director. “For the past 10 years we have been the only one.” Phillips graduated from the school he now owns at 709 E. Genesee St. and is proud of the quality of graduates the school has produced since his purchase in 1981.

By Jessica Skeldon

If you think you’re starting from a blank slate when you decide to go back to school, think again. Turns out all those years spent teaching, running a business or being in the Army can give you a head start on the road to a degree. 

Two area colleges help turn your experience into cold, hard college credits. Empire State College’s Central New York center, located in the Telergy Building off Carrier Circle at 6333 Route 298, East Syracuse (472-5730), specializes in adult education and allows maximum flexibility when it comes to earning class credits. Columbia College at Hancock Field, 6001 E. Molloy Road, Mattydale (455-0690), focuses more on providing an education for men and women in the military. Both offer adults credit for prior learning, a way to get credit for education attained outside the traditional classroom.