Karrie Votaw found her “knight in shining armor” when she was 20 years old.
“He said I would never have to work another day in my life, and that seemed wonderful to me at that time,” she said.
Votaw decided to devote her time to family and left the U. After 34 years of raising her children, the mother of three chose to return to school and finish her degree.
Votaw is one of 157 students who returned to school last year and made use of the Returning to the U program. President Michael Young announced the program at graduation commencement last spring as a way to encourage students who didn’t finish school to come back. The program offers advice and scholarship opportunities to returning students.
John Francis, senior associate vice president for academic affairs, looked at other schools and noticed that the University of Mexico had a good system for encouraging students to come back and finish their degrees.
“A lot of people think it’s no longer possible to finish school after so many years,” Francis said.
The program offers special advisory sessions to help returning students plan for graduation. Sandy McLelland, coordinating advisor for Returning to the U, arranges for students to meet with department counselors and shows students what scholarships are available to them.
Votaw said she felt comfortable returning to school after meeting with McLelland.
“When I started thinking seriously about returning, I applied online and was accepted,” Votaw said. “But I don’t know if I would have been able to sign up for classes online without talking to Sandy. It really helped having her there.”
McLelland returned to school several years ago after deciding she wanted to further her education. After receiving her graduate degree in special education, she stayed at the U to help older students handle the challenge she faced in coming back.
“There are about 4,000 students who have over 90 (credit) hours completed, but haven’t graduated yet,” she said.
Most students stop attending the U because they face family issues or find a good-paying job that takes up their time, McLelland said.
She said she believes that many of the students who “stop-out” plan on coming back, but haven’t made the step or are worried about returning after so long.
“One of my neighbors who worked at the university encouraged me to come back, but I didn’t think I would actually finish my degree at the time,” she said.
The program waives the $30 to $60 return fee and offers about $40,000 in scholarship money to students who apply.
Alison Jacobson, a 34-year-old mother of six, was waiting for the right time to finish her degree. She noticed a local newspaper advertisement about the program and decided to look into it. When the program waived her return fee and offered her a scholarship, Jacobson knew it was time.
“I found I qualified for the OSHER scholarship,” she said. “It was $750 per semester, which pays for a good half of my tuition.”
Two students have already graduated through the program, and another two to four students will be graduating in May.