Turns Out, I May Live Forever
By: Michelle Matter, Director of Aging, SDSU CEAL
When I decided to go back to school as an older student, the reactions surprised me. Instead of excitement, people looked at me as if I had announced something outrageous. Questions came with disbelief or thinly veiled judgment: “Why would you go back to school?” or a stunned, “Again?” Suddenly, my curiosity and love of learning were treated like a reckless choice rather than a pursuit of knowledge.
My decision wasn’t about chasing another degree. It was about staying curious, keeping my mind active, and embracing learning to remain vibrant and connected. Over the years, I’ve earned multiple degrees and recently returned to school to complete a graduate certificate in nonprofit management. I’ve told only a few people, partly because I expected the same skeptical reactions. But new research shows that lifelong learning isn’t just fulfilling, it may extend life.
Researchers from the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, my alma mater, found that Americans with less education are aging faster than their more educated peers, and that the gap has grown over the past 30 years. The study looked at biological aging, which reflects how well our organs and systems function. Two people may be the same age, but one could have the biological profile of someone ten years younger.
While biological aging has slowed overall, the benefits have been far greater for those with more education. In the late 1980s, the difference between adults with less than a high school education and college graduates was about one year. Today, that gap has nearly doubled. This means that people with more education experience slower biological aging than everyone else, highlighting the powerful role learning plays in our health over a lifetime. We often focus on medical care, diet, or exercise, but education deserves a place in that conversation.
So, the next time someone asks why I went back to school, I’ll simply quote Henry Ford: “Anyone who stops learning is old.”
