This book consists of the edited transcripts of 19 interviews conducted with two- and four-year college students ranging in age from 25 to 65, who returned to school to complete degrees, work toward new degrees, or merely take classes. Drawing from the interviews, introductory comments offer generalizations about adult students returning to college, suggesting that while many are motivated by career objectives and personal challenge, they also place importance on their spouses, parents, children, lovers, and friends. Many of the people interviewed had to overcome difficult obstacles to attend college, often deferring school for financial reasons or obligations to family. For many, the experience of returning to college was attended by embarrassment, fright, awkwardness, and ambivalence. However, overcoming these barriers resulted in an increase in self-esteem for the returning students. The conversations were often very personal and intimate, covering topics such as the difficulties in simultaneously going to school and supporting a family, the influence of spouses and children, and the impact of past experiences such as divorce and war-time military service. (ALB)