Non-traditional college graduates who earn their degrees later in life ultimately have similar incomes to those who graduate by age 25, according to poll results released Thursday.
The poll, conducted by Gallup, Inc. in partnership with Purdue University, did not find a significant difference between the annual salaries of traditional students who earn their degrees before the age of 25 and non-traditional students who earned their degrees after 25.
“I’m shocked the results are not better,” said Vijay Kanabar, professor of computer science and administrative sciences and director of management programs at Boston University’s Metropolitan College. “I expect non-traditional students to have a better salary.”
The poll found that 23 percent of traditional students and 22 percent of non-traditional students make less than $24,000 per year, 50 percent of traditional students and 49 percent of non-traditional students make between $24,000 and $90,000 per year and 10 percent of traditional students and 9 percent of non-traditional students make more than $180,000 per year.
The key difference employers usually look for between non-traditional and traditional students is experience, Kanabar said.
“In my discipline, we do have project managers who draw the bachelor’s program or master’s program after having worked the industry,” Kanabar said. “They have experience. When it comes time for graduation, [if ] businesses have to choose between a 24-year-old … or a 30-year-old or a 35-year-old, they will choose the 30-year-old because they have some experience under their belt.”
Kanabar also noted that anti-discrimination laws exist to prevent employers from discriminating in the workplace based on age, and while the landscape of higher education is changing as degrees become more crucial to getting a job, experience has mattered more than level of education historically.
“If you pretend today is 1960, having a bachelor’s degree was not important,” he said. “Getting an education is not as important. What is really important is the people getting the work done. The experience they have has to be of value substantially.”
MET provides different programs for professionals who wish to earn degrees later in their life. MET’s Evergreen program is specifically designed to offer continued education to those 58 or older.
“For the Evergreen program, we offer them the opportunity to audit courses from undergraduate and graduate courses,” said Lauren Burwell, interim program coordinator of Evergreen. “Students also have the options of attending courses just for undergraduate students.”
The program has a distinct advantage for older students who wish to learn more about the world and enhance their professional experience, she said.
“They do get that personal enrichment, which if you apply for a job, that’s something that really adds a lot to a resume,” she said.
Several students said the poll’s results are understandable and experience in a career field matters more than a student’s age.
“If they put the same work into college, then I don’t care how much non-traditional college students earn later in life,” said Geoffrey Gaskins, a College of Communication freshman. “The only difference is they complete their work later than the others.”
Sophia Qadir, a College of Arts and Sciences senior, said she agreed with the poll’s results of comparable incomes for those graduating before and after the age of 25.
“People who follow the non-traditional route might do so for a variety of reasons, but my guess is that the most compelling push to wait is financial,” she said. “I figure that it’s a choice dictated by circumstances more than anything else. And … school is the natural path for most high school graduates.”
Ellie Hitt, a sophomore in the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies, said the results do not surprise her.
“There is a belief that you have to go to college to find yourself and have a good time at a young age,” she said. “Realistically, college is what you make of it, and sometimes those who prolong attending college are at a better place in life to learn and apply the knowledge they receive.”