“Education has no expiration”: Virginia Ordaz and her mother finished their degrees in the same class

Veronica Smith wondered what the younger students in her Norse mythology class made of her. Her best guess, she told Stocktonia News: “They must have thought I was a professor or something.”

She was not. Smith, 80, was one of 3,532 students graduating from San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton, California, in May, in what the college called its largest graduating class in memory. So was her daughter, Virginia Ordaz, 55.

Picking up where they left off

Ordaz first enrolled at Delta in 1989, to study journalism, and later switched to criminal justice. A few years in, she left to work as a fire dispatcher and to raise two children, and later two grandchildren. The college says her career in public safety lasted 25 years.

She retired in 2024. One of her sons suggested she go back, and she found she was only a few units short of a degree. She changed subject to communications, earned straight A’s and made the President’s List.

“Education has no expiration.” — Virginia Ordaz, quoted by San Joaquin Delta College

Her mother’s gap was longer. Smith had completed 67 units more than 40 years earlier, then left to become a court clerk and raise three children. She retired in 2007. When she finally went back, a college counsellor worked out that three classes stood between her and an associate degree (a US college qualification that usually takes two years full time). She enrolled in autumn 2025 and took Norse mythology, ethnic studies and counselling.

According to the college, mother and daughter found out they were both enrolled only after the semester had started. Ordaz had not planned to finish at the same time. She decided she could, with extra classes and intensive study, and told her mother at an event held by the college’s Asian American and Pacific Islander student association.

Older, and a different student

Both women said age changed the experience. Ordaz told Stocktonia she was more focused this time, without work and children to distract her, and that being older changed how she got on with her classmates.

“They related to me like their mama bear, and I related to them like my children’s best friends.” — Virginia Ordaz, to Stocktonia News

Smith said she wanted to set an example for her eight grandchildren, and that she learned a lot on this go-around. Ordaz has applied to San Diego State University’s online programme. Her mother has no such plans.

“Heck, no. I’m not the academic type.” — Veronica Smith, to Stocktonia News, on whether she will go on to a bachelor’s degree

Why this matters

Unfinished study is common. The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center counted 43.1 million Americans with “some college, no credential” at the start of the 2023-24 academic year, 37.6 million of them under 65. Its 2025 report found the number re-enrolling had risen for the second year in a row. Delta’s spokesman told Stocktonia that more adult learners like Smith and Ordaz were one reason its enrolment is growing.

The point both women’s stories make is that old work can still count. In the UK, the Open University (OU) runs a free credit transfer scheme: passed university-level study from the last 16 years can count towards an OU qualification, in blocks of 30 credits, though some qualifications accept only the last five years.

Finding out what you already have

• Get the paperwork. Ask for an official transcript from the registrar (US) or student records office (UK) of each place you studied.
• Ask someone to count it. An admissions or academic counsellor can tell you what you still need. Ask before you choose a course, not after.
• In the UK, apply for credit transfer first. The OU asks you to apply before you register on a module. It usually takes about six weeks.
• Start with one class. Smith’s three were the whole job. Yours might be a first step.

Our guide to going back to study covers the Open University, community colleges and how to fund it. For a much bigger leap, read how Carl Allamby went from his auto shop to the emergency room.