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How Older People Can Get Money to Return to College

Written by CB Community

So, you’re thinking about going back to school. You know exactly what you want to study and where you want to go, but there’s just one problem:

You think you might be too old to go back to school.

No one is too old to go back to school. But you might have challenges that you didn’t anticipate.

For example, if you’re retired or almost retired, you might not be planning to pursue a career that can cover the costs of tuition.

With this in mind, here are some ways that you can fund your educational goals:

Sell Your Life Insurance Policy

Selling your life insurance policy is a good way to get cash, especially for older people. The longer you’ve had your life insurance policy, the more it’s likely to be worth to a life settlement company.

You also might not need the same level of coverage that you did when you first took out the policy

For example, maybe your policy was meant to cover your children and spouse. But if you’re older now and your children are grown, they might not need the same level of benefits following your passing.

You can read a guide to learn more about how selling your life insurance policy to a life settlement company works. This will also give you a sense of how much your policy might net in total, so you can use it to determine how much more you’d need to pay for your tuition.

Take Out Student Loans

It might surprise you to learn that federal student loans are still available to you. You can fill out the FAFSA form no matter how old you are.

Federal loans are often written with more forgiving terms than personal loans.

However, personal loans are definitely an option to cover whatever is left over. These are an especially good choice for older people with a good credit score.

Your credit history shows that you can pay back loans in a timely manner, so you might have a relatively low interest rate.

Dip into Your Retirement

This option will depend somewhat on how old you are but once you reach the age of 59 1/2, you’re able to start taking dividends from your retirement account without being penalized.

This is a great way to access funds that can be used to fund your education. It helps to get a sense of your retirement savings.

Are you able to take a little extra without penalizing your long-term retirement plans? That might be feasible for people who have a lot of investments that generate income over time.

Look into Grants and Scholarships

Grants and scholarships are great ways for older students to save money and also are often available for older students specifically. Some grants have a varied amount of tuition coverage depending on your financial need.

For those who have a greater financial need, applying for these is a good idea. You can also find out whether there are scholarships in your field specifically designed for older students who are going back to school.

About the author

CB Community

Passionate members of the College Basics community that include students, essay writers, consultants and beyond. Please note, while community content has passed our editorial guidelines, we do not endorse any product or service contained in these articles which may also include links for which College Basics is compensated.