I have been trying to get back to school to complete my degree since 2005. I didn’t know which school to attend, what area to study, or how I would pay for it. All I knew was that I wanted to go back and finish this time. I attended countless college fairs, and I was searching online to find out how to do this and who to talk to, but there is much less information on going to college directed towards adult students than there is for traditional-age students. No one would really help me.

I got tired of working retail so I decided to go back to school and get my bachelors degree. I want to expand my skills and then be able to put them to good use.

I had been unemployed for several years due to a back injury I got from my last (highly paid) job. I took a job as a school janitor to pay the bills, but it was at such low pay, with no benefits, and was far from being my dream job that I realized I had to make a change. I don’t want to take another entry level job; I want to do more meaningful work. So I got the ball rolling to go back to school.

I started going to Temple University in 1989 but had to leave to help out at home when my father passed and my mother was ill. To help with money I took a job as a Philadelphia Corrections Officer.

I completed my Associates from the Community College of Philadelphia and this fall I’m attending Chestnut Hill College to get my bachelors degree in Human Services. Then I want to continue on to get my masters. Ultimately, I want to open my own nonprofit organization that focuses on helping those who are suffering from drug and alcohol addictions and other debilitating issues that prevent them from being all that they can be.

When I told a former co-worker that I would really like to go back to school, she highly recommended the Graduate! Philadelphia program. She told me that they were located near the Gallery mall in center city Philadelphia and that they would help me with applying for financial aid and provide other valuable assistance – and their services were free! If Graduate! Philadelphia provided that one service alone, I would have been extremely grateful. All of the procedures involved with applying for financial aid were more intimidating to me than returning to La Salle University after my decades of absence.

My name is Michael Johnson. I’m a non-traditional, 43-year-old graduating student in the Accelerated Behavioral Health and Science Program at Philadelphia University. It was not an easy decision to come back to school. Balancing family life, a full-time job and other numerous responsibilities, school seemed like a gigantic undertaking. And as you know, it was.

The staff at Graduate! Philadelphia as well as the instructors and advisors at Neumann University offered me continuous encouragement, critical positive reviews and rewarding information. After I received my Bachelor’s degree in Liberal Arts, I changed careers from secretarial/administrative duties to my first dream of coaching and tutoring women to become self-sufficient in mind, body, and soul.

My journey began in 1987 when I first started college at Temple University. I was a mediocre student but always felt drawn to the field of communications. As an Advertising major, I enjoyed being creative. However, the other classes were not very interesting to me. I fell short in attaining the minimum requirements to maintain a required grade point average. I was informed that I couldn’t enroll in any more classes. I was devastated.

Graduate Philadelphia! Where would I be today if it were not for this organization? I was out of work and indecisive of my next course of action. I went to an open house offered by Graduate Philadelphia and found an open door leading to answers to my future. I liked the fact that they did not favor one school over another, but focused on my needs and how they could help me reach my goals.

Graduate! Philadelphia Comebacker Desiree Neal is a Philadelphia native who grew up in a family of singers and entertainers, and was destined to be a star in her own right. Some may know her by her on-air personality, “Dezzie” at Praise 103.9FM. Desiree is approaching her second year returning to college, has maintained a 3.45 GPA, and plans to graduate in May of 2015.

Let me start by saying that my journey with Graduate! Philadelphia has been amazing. Graduate! Philadelphia is known for assisting adults in returning back to school. Even though that was not my case they did not turn me away. This would actually be my first time ever in college. They have helped me with my financial aid process, my application fee, tips on do’s and don’ts with insider experience, and so much more.

Since I began my studies at Philadelphia University in the Accelerated Degree Program in September 2012, the program has provided me with exemplary educational and practical experiences that are very important at this time in my professional career. I am delighted to be part of an educational organization that has provided me with the tools to be successful in today’s industrial world.

I wish that you could just see how wonderful you all look from my vantage point. Graduate! Philadelphia helped me create what I describe as a defining moment, a moment that changed my life!

I told myself that when my son was older that I would go to college and get a Bachelors degree. I wanted to attend college when I completed high school, but my mother was a single parent and unfortunately we simply could not afford it. Also, having graduated from high school at the age of 16, I was not focused on fully applying myself in college anyway, but I knew one day that I would be. That day came when my son was a sophomore in college and my pursuit of higher education led me to Graduate! Philadelphia. I’d attempted to go to college when my son was in high school and accomplished completing a math course at Community College of Philadelphia. I registered for two courses that following semester but they both were unexpectedly cancelled. Lack of time and available course selections, I was unable to register in that semester and did not pursue college any further.