'The final push:' Pandemic sends more adult students back to university

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Renee Legrand was looking for change.

After nine years at the same job as a licensed funeral professional, she was feeling stuck and ready for a new challenge.

She thought about her career goals and explored her options for going back to school. She met with an advisor at the University of Regina’s Centre for Continuing Education. She decided she wanted to get a business degree.

She even met a few other women around her age who had gone back to school and encouraged her to do the same.

But she wasn’t quite ready to make the leap.

Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit Saskatchewan, sending all classes at the University of Regina online in March 2020. That news was enough to spur 44-year-old Legrand into action. She enrolled.

“That was the final push that I needed to make the decision to actually enrol in classes and go back to school,” Legrand said in a recent interview.

“The pandemic was like the perfect storm.”

Legrand isn’t the only one who decided the pandemic was the perfect time to head back to school to gain new skills for a current career or switch fields entirely.

The U of R saw an increase in adult students — defined as any student aged 25 or older — in the fall of 2020 and another slight uptick in the fall of 2021, according to data providing by the U of R. The number of students in their 30s saw the largest increase.

On the flipside, the number of students ages 18 to 24 fell slightly over those two years, breaking the nine-year pattern of growth in this age group the U of R had experienced pre-pandemic.

While normal student fluctuations may account for some of those changes, Christie Schultz, director of the Centre for Continuing Education (CCE) believes COVID-19 is also a major factor.

“I think it could at least be partly attributed to the willingness to return to school, especially for those who may have found themselves without work and looking for new careers,” she said.

“What the pandemic has offered for many people is an opportunity to reflect and prioritize, or perhaps re-prioritize, and for some that may mean a return to school and a willingness to see the possibilities of what education and learning can offer.”

The flexibility of online learning appealed to Legrand, and with all classes taking place remotely, there were more online options than ever. She took her first class in May 2020, following by another in the summer and a few more in the fall, all while she kept working full-time.

In December 2020 she quit her job and in January became a full-time student. Since then she has taken classes year round in an effort to complete her degree as quickly as possible.

“I just felt at that point that I really wanted to capitalize as long as I could on the remote aspect of university. Nobody really knew how long that would even last, but I just felt, at that time, that was a perfect fit for my life,” Legrand said.

“I do feel the remote experience was a good stepping stone for me in terms of getting back into classes … It was like a baby step. It wasn’t being thrown right into the typical university experience.”

Now with the experience of online classes under her belt, Legrand feels excited and prepared to begin in-person classes on the CCE campus in January. She is on track to finish her business degree in April 2023.

Schultz said that interest in flexible learning options is reflected in the data. The percentage of the U of R’s student body made up of learners ages 25 and up grew from 34.9 per cent in 2019 to 36.5 per cent in 2020. It then leapt again to 38.2 per cent in 2021.

The message is loud and clear: Older students want other ways of learning than sitting in a traditional classroom.

“Because of those flexible options that have come forward, more people have been able to consider building their learning portfolio,” Schultz said.

A number of faculties saw an increase in adult students in the fall of 2020, including arts, business, education, science, social work, graduate studies and the CCE. That growth continued into 2021 for social work, graduate studies and the CCE. Schultz said short-term programs have seen particularly high demand.

Some of the more hands-on faculties like nursing and engineering, however, saw decreases in adult learners over 2020 and 2021.

Legrand acknowledged the decision to pursue further education can be more difficult for older adults than young adults. They may already be established in a certain career and added responsibilities like mortgages, spouses or families can make taking on classes a challenge.

Still, she encouraged anyone thinking about heading back to school to give it a try.

“I was in a place with my former profession where I felt really stuck. I felt like I didn’t have any options and that just simply isn’t true,” said Legrand.

“There’s so many options out there and once I just started taking baby steps and gaining confidence with each step that I took, then I was just able to see that there’s a much bigger world and a much bigger picture out there.”

lgiesbrecht@postmedia.com

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