Michigan Man Has 29 College Degrees and Counting

College Life
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<p>"Every June, students all over the country don their caps and gowns for graduation. Whether it’s from high school, college or graduate school, most people could easily count their own graduations on one hand.</p>

<p>But not 71-year-old Michael Nicholson of Kalamazoo, Mich. Nicholson has earned 29 degrees and is now pursuing his 30th.</p>

<p>‘I just stayed in school and took menial jobs to pay for the education and just made a point of getting more degrees and eventually I retired so that I could go full-time to school,’ Nicholson told ABCNews.com.</p>

<p>‘It’s stimulation to go to the class, look at the material that’s required and meet the teacher and students. It makes life interesting for me,’ he said. ‘Otherwise, things would be pretty dull.’</p>

<p>Nicholson has one bachelor’s degree, two associate’s degrees, 22 master’s degrees, three specialist degrees and one doctoral degree." …</p>

<p>Apparently, Mike must believe that a bachelor’s degree isn’t enough.</p>

<p>[Michigan</a> Man Has 29 College Degrees and Isn’t Stopping - ABC News](<a href=“Michigan Man Has 29 College Degrees and Counting - ABC News”>Michigan Man Has 29 College Degrees and Counting - ABC News)</p>

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<p>How diverse are his degrees? Nonetheless that’s a lot of money</p>

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<p>When they said “Just do something you love and keep doing it in high school, they didn’t mean this.” Waste of time and money.</p>

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<p>As long as it’s on his own dime, who cares?</p>

<p>But how the heck is he paying for these? A master’s degree can easily cost 50k.</p>

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<p>Laffy000 - the article states they are mostly education-related, so not all that diverse I suppose. </p>

<p>Despite all of his education, I don’t think he should be asked to give any serious advice to recent graduates. After all, if he has only worked menial jobs his whole life and spent most of his time in the classroom, what kind of real-world experience does he really have to talk about and bring to the classroom? </p>

<p>I think it’s great to keep taking courses to update your skills and learn new things. However, being that his parents wanted him to be well-educated so he didn’t end up in a factory, I think something went terribly wrong. He has only worked menial jobs his whole life anyway. And his wife has 7 degrees herself…I wish I knew how to make a living like that so that I could stay in school the rest of my life!</p>

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<p>Romanigypsyeyes - My guess is that since they are mostly all education-related, there is a lot of course overlap. He probably doesn’t have many requirements to fulfill when he starts the programs, assuming the credits transfer. I wonder if most of the work is in the independent research/thesis aspect.</p>

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<p>Nova, could be, but still…</p>

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<p>Well, I don’t know about 4-year degrees but at my old CC, if you were 60 (or 65, maybe?) you could go to class for free. There was an old guy that registered for my history class and was always on campus taking classes.</p>

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<p>He seems to be happy with his life and isn’t on welfare. And although he has worked a series of “menial” jobs to pay for his living expenses and education he has stayed off the factory floor. We know he worked as a security officer for one college, and he has probably spent a good part of his life working for colleges. Isn’t one of the perks of employment in higher education breaks on tuition?</p>

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<p>Tuition discounts, yes, but I still wonder how he is able to pay all other expenses on top of the tuition he would still need to pay, in addition to books and other supplies. I don’t think it mentioned what his wife does, unless I missed it.</p>

<p>I agree that it is not a waste of time or money if he is truly fulfilled by it. I’m just curious about all of the little details they never seem to cover in articles like this.</p>