[The_Adger]

Depends on the country you're in. I'm in my early 50s and in Germany where attending university is not as costly as elsewhere. Having a degree can help your career but it's no guarantee. The by far most challenging part for me was coming to terms with myself. Do you really want to do it or not? "Maybee" is no sufficient answer. If your answer is "Yes!" ask yourself "Why?" Don't stop short of an answer that satisfies your best and most sceptical friend. This took me a lot of talking and time but it paid off in the long run whenever motivation became an issue (motivation will wear thin at some point.) After that I went to the university of my choice and talked with the office dedicated to "older and long term students". This was tremendeously helpful in many ways. Most importantly during this meeting I learned that I could shave two semesters and various "required" courses from the BA curriculum. And it allowed me to skip the numerus clausus because of previous job experience. I'm currently applying the finishing touches to my MA and am offered (without me asking for) to do my PhD afterward by two different professors, which to my knowledge is a first in my university, so yeah, I certainly have done some things right. Looking back it was quite a ride. I learned tons and became very good friends with amazingly brilliant people. My life has changed in so many ways. Some of the people who used to be part of my life before university have parted ways because I changed on the inside. I spent endless hours reading stuff that still does not interest me. Not even remotely. I've written pages on end about stuff that I couldn't care less about. All of this because others told me I had to do it. In doing so I grew and I really like what I have become: More knowledgable, understanding and critically thinking. Come on in! The water is fine! But don't do it for the merits. Do it because you really want to.