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Average age of a phd student: when is it too late, published by steve tippins on june 16, 2022 june 16, 2022.

Last Updated on: 2nd February 2024, 02:36 am

In 2020, the average age of a graduate from a PhD program in the United States was 33. However, 6% of the graduates were over 45. 

When people ask what the average age of a PhD student is, many times they’re really asking, “Am I too old to get a PhD?” The answer is almost always no. Let’s explore some different scenarios. 

When Is It Too Late to Get a PhD?

As an academic career coach, I’ve been asked by more than a few people if it’s too late for them to get a PhD. Some of these people were even in their twenties, worried that working for two years after their undergraduate degree had inexorably barred them from the halls of academia. 

Others were past middle age, looking for a career change. In either case, the answer is ultimately no, it’s not too late to get a PhD . However, there are some important things to keep in mind if this is something you’re considering.

Getting a PhD for Your Career

Let’s say you want to get a PhD to pursue a career in academia or elsewhere. You enter a PhD program at 25 or even 30, the average PhD duration takes six to eight years. That means you will finish when you are around 30 to 37. The normal retirement age to get Social Security in the United States is 67, so that’s at least 30 years ahead of you – lots of time for your career. If you look around academia, there’s a lot of people older than 67.

You have a chance for a very long career, even if you’re 42 and finish your PhD at 50. That’s still over 15 years before retirement age. These days, very few people stay at a job for 15 years. Rest assured that you have ample opportunity to have a meaningful career.

Over 50% of doctoral candidates don’t finish their dissertations.

Student Loan Debt Considerations

If you’re 61 and taking loans out, it will be a while before you pay those off. Debt is something to think about before getting a PhD. If you can get into a PhD program that pays your tuition or even provides you a stipend, you may be able to graduate with a much smaller student loan debt. That assistance could allow you to consider a PhD later in life. 

What Is the Minimum Age for Getting a PhD?

To get a PhD, you have to have graduated from undergraduate school. From there, some people can go right into a PhD program. If you graduate at the traditional age of 22, you’d be getting your PhD somewhere around age 25 at a minimum.

There are stories about people who graduate from high school at 12 and college at 16. They could theoretically get their PhD at 19 or 20. However, people like this are quite rare.

Can You Get a PhD by Age 25?

It is possible to get a PhD by age 25, particularly if you graduate from college at 21 or 22. If it takes three or four years to get a PhD, you could graduate by 25.

What Is The Best Age to Get a PhD?

The best age to get a PhD is three years ago. The second best time is now. In reality, the best age to get a PhD is whenever you are able to complete it. The earlier you finish your PhD, the more of a life and career you’ll have with it , but there is no optimal age.

Does Having a Master’s Shorten the Time it Takes to Get a PhD?

Having a Master’s can shorten the time it takes to get a PhD , depending on your discipline. If PhD programs in your discipline are structured such that they assume you have a Master’s before you enter, then yes, you’re going to finish a PhD faster. 

If you enter without a Master’s, you may have to get the Master’s first to be allowed in the PhD program. Otherwise, you may have to take some remedial coursework. If your discipline is not set up in that manner, having a Master’s may not allow you to move faster.

Final Thoughts

As society ages and with employers having problems finding eligible workers, the problem of ageism will become less severe. Getting a PhD at any age is going to be a viable option. If you are interested in a PhD and it’s something you have a burning desire to do, don’t let age stop you. 

Are you considering getting your PhD? We’re here to help. Check out our Dissertation Coaching and Academic Career Coaching services.

Steve Tippins

Steve Tippins, PhD, has thrived in academia for over thirty years. He continues to love teaching in addition to coaching recent PhD graduates as well as students writing their dissertations. Learn more about his dissertation coaching and career coaching services. Book a Free Consultation with Steve Tippins

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Taking On the Ph.D. Later in Life

By Mark Miller

• April 15, 2016

ROBERT HEVEY was fascinated by gardening as a child, but then he grew up and took a 30-year career detour. Mr. Hevey earned a master’s in business and became a certified public accountant, working for accounting firms and businesses ranging from manufacturing to enterprise software and corporate restructuring.

“I went to college and made the mistake of getting an M.B.A. and a C.P.A.,” he recalled with a laugh.

Now 61, Mr. Hevey is making up for lost time. He’s a second-year Ph.D. student in a plant biology and conservation program offered jointly by Northwestern University and the Chicago Botanic Garden. Mr. Hevey, whose work focuses on invasive species, started on his master’s at age 53, and he expects to finish his doctorate around five years from now, when he will be 66.

“When I walk into a classroom of 20-year-olds, I do raise the average age a bit,” he says.

While the overall age of Ph.D. candidates has dropped in the last decade, about 14 percent of all doctoral recipients are over age 40, according to the National Science Foundation. Relatively few students work on Ph.D.s at Mr. Hevey’s age, but educators are seeing increasing enrollment in doctoral programs by students in their 40s and 50s. Many candidates hope doctorates will help them advance careers in business, government and nonprofit organizations; some, like Mr. Hevey, are headed for academic research or teaching positions.

At Cornell University, the trend is driven by women. The number of new female doctoral students age 36 or older was 44 percent higher last year than in 2009, according to Barbara Knuth, senior vice provost and dean of the graduate school.

“One of the shifts nationally is more emphasis on career paths that call for a Ph.D.,” Dr. Knuth said. “Part of it is that we have much more fluidity in career paths. It’s unusual for people to hold the same job for many years.”

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A Ph.D. After 40

By  Lauren Easterling

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When I started by Ph.D. program, I was 31 years old. I was a little bit older than some of the other students in my cohort but planned on finishing in five years and then applying for tenure-track faculty positions. That is not what happened. Instead, I found myself needing a job before I could defend my dissertation, so I started a full-time position in academe ahead of schedule. Then, a combination of job commitments and life events led to me delaying my work on my dissertation so that the five years I planned on devoting to my Ph.D. became 15 years.

While I can happily say that I am defending my dissertation in the next month and graduating shortly afterward, this journey has been nothing like what I had planned. When I am finished in a few months, I will be 46 years old and midcareer in an academic management role yet still feeling as if I’m at the start of something new. Every graduate student who finishes their degree or any postdoc who is finishing their research training probably asks themselves the same question—what am I going to do next? But I cannot help but think my answer would have been different 10 years ago, for good or ill.

Also, when I start talking with people about my career plans, I feel as if some are looking at me like I have five heads. Several have been bold enough to ask me why I have not made up my mind yet at my age. Others ask why I am dissatisfied and not willing to stay in my job until retirement, as if retirement were just around the corner for me. It is not.

And I know that I’m not alone. In my five-plus years working with Ph.D. students and postdocs in the sciences, I have met a handful of them in similar situations: finishing their education or training in their 40s or later. I and others like me are not anomalies, and we have many of the same questions and concerns that other Ph.D. students or postdocs have. It is just that our life circumstances may be different, are families may be different, our needs may be different and so forth. And while we are not all the same, this essay is my attempt at giving advice to others who may be experiencing something similar to what I am now.

Don’t feel like you have to justify your history or timeline. For years, I found myself feeling as if I had to explain why I was in middle age and still a graduate student. Even as recently as two years ago, I found myself making mental arguments about why it was taking so long. It was through talking with key people in my life that I realized that I did not need to justify my timeline to anyone else except my Ph.D. adviser and the administrators of my academic program. It is my story, and while I wonder about what life would have been like if I had finished earlier, I do not regret it.

When I talk with graduate students and postdocs who have been on similar journeys, I try to encourage them to embrace their timeline—why they finished their Ph.D. in their mid-40s or were a postdoc at 50—and never feel as if they must explain it to others. Our experiences and the reasons for why we started our Ph.D. later or took longer in our training are our own. Whether related to spending more time in the workforce, focusing on a growing family or just working through whatever you need to work through—that is part of your story, and it’s up to you to choose to share your reasons with other people. And if you decide to do so, try to share it with pride in who you are, what you have done and the fact that you are as successful as you are.

Figure out what you need, and then pursue it. I still hope to one day take on responsibilities such as teaching and leadership that more closely resemble the faculty role I wanted when I started. That sense of having a goal and pursuing it, regardless of the obstacles we need to overcome during our lives, has also been a common part of my conversations with graduate students and postdocs who are in similar situations. “Isn’t it a little late for you to start a faculty job?” “When will you settle down into a career?” I get these questions, and other people I’ve worked with have shared that they have heard the same.

At the same time, the people I’ve seen succeed when finishing graduate school or postdoc training in midlife are those who still have a goal and go for it. The ultimate test to see if you can do something is if you still have a pulse. If we are still alive, it is not too late to pursue our goals.

Build an intentional support network that works for you. Finally, I encourage anyone who has had a Ph.D. timeline like mine to network, but to do so knowing that your network will probably look very different from that of a peer who finished their education or training earlier in life. I put it this way because many of us have significant work, family or community experiences before we finished our education and training, and they have exposed us to a wide variety of people we may not have met if we finished earlier. I look at my own network and see a web of people who can vouch for different skills of mine and give me different types of advice. My network has been essential to me in navigating my own midlife career transitions, and I encourage you to build an intentional network that can do the same.

Over all, I am proud of what I call my zigzag career. Even though that means I may make a major zig or zag at the same time that some of my contemporaries have tenure or have settled into a career path, it does not invalidate my own path. In fact, this is the same encouragement and advice I give to anyone I counsel: embrace the zigzag, embrace wherever you are and embrace the next steps you are going to take—regardless of what your calendar or other people say.

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How to Do a PhD Later in Life: A Primer on What to Expect

By Sara K. McBride

For many people, completing a PhD is a lifelong goal. However, not everyone can do one in their 20’s. Many of us have to wait until later in life to make the leap into this major commitment. It is critical to know what to expect when going in and some of the challenges and benefits of being a mid- or late-career student, which aren’t often talked about. I’d like to share my observations from both my personal experience as a late-30’s PhD student and those of my fellow PhD students in my program who ranged in age from early 20’s to age 70.

First, I need to say that, no matter what, you should avoid paying for your PhD on your own. There is a large number of fellowships and scholarships that will offer annual stipends and full tuition to incoming students. Self funding for 4-7 years is a huge responsibility. You don’t have to bear this cost alone if you seek fully funded PhD programs that support students financially.

Also, remember, take the bits of wisdom that are useful to you and leave the rest behind.

The Benefits

You’ve got different types of work experience. If you have had a lot of life experience, you can apply numerous skills from whatever field you worked in before coming back to academia. Knowledge of project management, accounting, communication, writing, public speaking, software programming, publishing, writing grant proposals, networking, team management…the list goes on and on of skills you might have learned in the workplace that applies to your PhD. Remember: a PhD is not a marathon, it’s a triathlon, that involves different skills at different times. So your skills in the workplace really help!

Resilience in the face of failure. You are going to fail…a lot. And, if you have worked in a variety of different environments, you’ve probably built up different ways of coping with failure. And you will also be familiar with rejection, which is also a critical part of academia. Peer review is a tough process at all stages of learning, and, if you’ve had a few years of working in harsh environments, this will help you pick yourself up again and keep going forward.

You know yourself. You have a separate identity outside the confines of academia. For me, I knew I had been successful in other spheres and so I did not feel as much of a let down when I submitted my dissertation. I knew a life outside the PhD endeavour and so, I didn’t have any missing identity problems of submission that I have seen other people who have never been outside of academia struggle with. Having a separate life and identity can be a real benefit.

There’s no FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) . I had spent 15 years working and travelling around the world, doing various things. I never envied anyone else’s experiences while I was writing my dissertation, because I had similar experiences already. There was no “what might have been” longing within me to distract myself.

You know what you want. I’ve found that most “later in life” PhDs are really clear as to their intentions and motivations. This makes it easier to focus your time and attention to complete your dissertation.

The Challenges

You need to park your ego. Now that you are a PhD student, you are no different in the eyes of the academy to your 23 year old peer. Your experiences and previous job titles no longer matter. You’ll have to leave your ego at the door and really humble yourself to learn from your supervisors, as well as the potentially younger and less experienced students around you. Learning can be a painful process, especially when you feel you have achieved so much in another field. This was a real struggle for me but honestly, it was also very liberating to leave my past behind and just embrace being a student again. Listen to your supervisors and your fellow students; you don’t know it all in academia (no one does).

Some doors are now closed to you. It is true, once you get that PhD, you can be perceived as being “over qualified” and there for, unhirable for many jobs out there. Be prepared for these doors to close and not re-open. There are really exciting new doors that are now available to you but these might be different than you were expecting. But before you start, make sure you are quite happy for those doors to be closed permanently.

Sacrificing your high earning years is tough. If you are doing a PhD later in life, you might be sacrificing earning potential for those years. This can have long ranging impacts on your ability to afford a home or your retirement plans. So be aware of the financial hit that you are about to take.

You may be older than your advisors/supervisors. It is true; you might have more experience and maturity than the supervisors on your committee. But here is the thing: they have more experience than you in academia. No matter where you are at in your PhD process, respect the pathway of those ahead of you, even if they are younger in age. Even if you disagree with your supervisors or advisors, do your best to always remain respectful in those disagreements. Remember: 90 percent of your happiness during a PhD will be based on your relationships with your committee, so do your best to be a great student.    

You will feel really uncomfortable. I felt (and still feel) pretty stupid most of the time in research; it makes me feel deeply uncomfortable at times. If you were a highly competent professional in your last career, you might not remember when the last time it was that you felt utterly out of your depth…and stupid. So be prepared to feel stupid, it will happen. The best thing you can do is admit to this feeling and pushing forward until you no longer feel uncomfortable.

You’ll be a bit rusty. If you’ve been out of school for more than four years or so, your research brain may be a bit rusty. The advantages of doing a PhD right away is that your brain has been primed to work in the research environment and you’ve developed habits based on this. Academia changes rapidly; methods, informed by technology, can force you to learn new things. It may take time to come back up to speed and you may feel behind before you even begin. This is okay, keep going!

For me, doing a dissertation was one of the best decisions I have ever made. It challenged me and I certainly struggled. But I do not regret the decision I made to pursue a PhD. Hopefully the above will give you an understanding of what you are in for if you decide to do one later in life. It can be a rewarding pathway, especially if you know what to expect before going in. Accept the journey you’ve put yourself on and bow your head to the experience. If done properly, the PhD can be a transformative time in your life.

Dr. Sara K. McBride is a Mendenhall Fellow at the U.S.G.S in Menlo Park. Sara has 20 years of experience as a professional communicator and disaster responder, having recently shifted careers into social science research.  She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Arts in Law and Justice from Central Washington University, a Master’s in Public Administration from the University of Hawai’i at Manoa, and her Ph.D. from Massey University in English and Media Studies. Sara McBride is an employee of the U.S. Geological Survey but the above views do not represent the USGS’s position and is not an official statement from the organization. This post was not sponsored.

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Aging, Health and Well-being (PhD)

Create a healthy future for aging populations

By 2050, more than one-fifth of the global population will be over 60 years old.

The Faculty of Health offers the first collaborative PhD program in Canada with a focus on aging, health and well-being.

The doctoral program is an interdisciplinary platform to develop a broad understanding of the issues related to the health and well-being of our aging population. 

Researchers in University of Waterloo's Faculty of Health are tackling some of the most pressing aging-related issues to improve quality of life for older adults today and refine health-care systems and policies for future generations.

Program overview and highlights

• Department of Kinesiology and Health Sciences
• Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies
• School of Public Health Sciences  
• Program format provides opportunities for cross-departmental collaborations, access to diverse course offerings and resources including dissertation committee members who can add unique perspectives in addressing emerging research problems.

Areas of study and researchers

Health information management   Illness and injury prevention   Dementia and dementia care   Social and environmental aspects of aging   Health services and continuum of care  

Nutrition and healthy lifestyles   Vascular aging and cerebrovascular disease Epidemiology and aging   Mobility and aging   Gender, sexuality, ethnicities and aging

Health information management

• John Hirdes
• Plinio Morita
• Chris Perlman

Illness and injury prevention

• Michaela Devries-Aboud
• Lora Giangregorio
• Heather Keller
• Nikolas Knowles
• Monica R. Maly
• Samantha Meyer
• Laura Middleton
• John Mielke

Dementia and dementia care 

• Sherry Dupuis
• Kimberly Lopez
• Carrie McAiney
• Plinio Morita
• Mark Oremus
• Suzanne Tyas

Social and environmental aspects of aging

• Martin Cooke
• Brian Laird
• Steven Mock
• Diana Parry

Health services and continuum of care 

Nutrition and healthy lifestyles.

• Marina Mourtzakis

Vascular aging and cerebrovascular disease

• Richard Hughson

Epidemiology and aging

• Lora Giangregorio

Mobility and aging

• Michael Barnett-Cowan
• Kaylena Ehgoetz Martens
• Andrew Laing
• Bill McIlroy
• Monica R. Maly

Gender, sexuality, ethnicities and aging

• Lisbeth Berbary

Admission and degree requirements

Application deadline: feb 1.

For admission in September 

Admission requirements: 

• PhD Kinesiology - Aging, Health and Well-being
• PhD Recreation and Leisure Studies - Aging, Health and Well-being
• PhD Public Health Sciences - Aging, Health and Well-being

The Graduate Studies Academic Calendar contains the official degree requirements for the Aging, Health and Well-being programs in each of the departments.     

Considerations for international students before submitting an application: 

• While the Faculty of Health at the University of Waterloo values international students in our graduate programs, we can only accept a small proportion of these students. 
• Guaranteed funding packages may not be able to cover all tuition and living expenses incurred during a graduate program and students are encouraged to understand more about the cost of completing their graduate program before applying.

Graduate student resources

• Policies and procedures
• Research groups
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• Residence for graduate students
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Read our alumni stories →

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Am I Too Old to Get a Ph.D.?

Earning a Ph.D. demands a lot of time and effort. If you’re thinking about going back to school to earn your doctorate degree, you should consider just how much of your life it will take. Can you go back to school later and earn a Ph.D.?

Am I too old to get a Ph.D.? No. You’re never too old to learn and earn a degree. A Ph.D. can take anywhere from six to twelve years to earn, depending on your area of study and if you need to earn a bachelor’s degree. You might decide you’re too old to begin even if you’re still young.

This article will explain how to get a Ph.D. It will also discuss all the reasons you should and shouldn’t earn a Ph.D., and how old is too old to start the process of earning one.

How to Get a PhD

Earning a doctorate degree can take as little as six years and as long as 12 years. How long it will take depends on your area of study and whether you’re a full-time or part-time student. Here are the steps you need to take to earn this degree.

• Earn a bachelor’s degree. This will take about four years.
• Take entrance exams for graduate school. This will include the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) and possibly some other exams, depending on your state and school.
• Apply to graduate school for either a master’s degree or Ph.D. You might not need a master’s degree to begin pursuing your Ph.D. This will depend on your university’s requirements and what you’re studying. Ph.D. applications often require undergraduate and graduate transcripts, GRE/GMAT scores, CV or resume, statement of purpose, and letters of recommendation.
• Complete Ph.D. coursework. Your first few years will feel like undergraduate studies but with more complex topics. A master’s degree might allow you to skip this coursework.
• Choose your dissertation topic and start researching. This is what a majority of your Ph.D. work is going toward.
• Defend and publish your dissertation. You will have to defend your research and findings to a board of professors. You must do this to earn your degree. You’ll be awarded your Ph.D. after successfully defending your dissertation.

Why Should I Earn a Ph.D.?

What are your reasons for possibly pursuing a doctorate degree?

Here are some reasons why you should.

You Love Your Subject

If you know exactly what you want to study and you love the topic, a Ph.D. is probably for you. You will spend many hours learning about your chosen subject and researching for your dissertation. Many Ph.D. students teach university courses part-time, so when you aren’t researching, you’ll most likely be teaching about that subject.

A Ph.D. program can take up to ten years, which is ten years of devotion to one subject. If you can see yourself happily doing this, then you should probably do it.

You Want a Top-Level Job

A doctorate degree is the highest degree you can achieve. If you have one, that means you’re the professional in the subject, so you’ll be qualified for positions at the top. 

A top-level position could mean many things: a great salary, respect from co-workers, or a direct impact on decisions that are made within the company or the entire industry. You’ll have some authority in your position because very few people earn a Ph.D.

You Enjoy Education

Only those who enjoy spending their time researching and learning will be able to complete their Ph.D. program. If you enjoyed school as a kid, enjoyed your university classes, and even enjoyed obtaining a master’s degree, then the process of earning a Ph.D. will be no different. 

You Want to Improve Yourself

You might think this isn’t a valid reason, but it is. Earning a Ph.D. is a very personal endeavor; it doesn’t enrich anyone’s life but yours. If you want to become a better researcher, problem-solver, or critical thinker, earn a Ph.D. 

After countless hours of researching, you’ll learn how to solve problems in new ways, become a master in your field, and you might even improve basic skills like communicating and focusing, both of which are important in any career.

Why Should I Not Earn a Ph.D.?

A quick search online will reveal that many people advocate against earning a Ph.D., especially if you’re going to be an older student. There are many valid concerns about choosing to pursue it later in life that should be considered.

It Takes More Time Than You Think

The biggest cautionary tale online is how long it takes to earn the degree. If a student goes straight from high school to university, then pursues their doctorate degree, they won’t get that degree until they’re in their thirties. Everyone else their age will most likely be established in a career with a steady paycheck, and might even be moving their way up in the company.

As an older student, consider your timeline. Do you need to earn a bachelor’s degree? After being awarded a Ph.D., how many working years will you have left? By the time you earn your degree, your friends and co-workers might already be considering retiring. 

Your field might require a longer time studying, too. Studies show that students in the humanities and social sciences often require more than ten years to complete their degree.

It’s Expensive and Hard to Find Jobs

Many Ph.D. students must go into debt to earn their degrees. On top of that worry, many students struggle financially while earning their degree, and sometimes even afterward when they’re looking for a steady teaching job. Some Ph.D. graduates have to receive food stamps because of debt and unstable work.

Another downside is that colleges don’t tenure professors like they used to. They would rather have part-time professors that don’t receive health benefits or retirement plans. Finding a job can be challenging because colleges only want part-time professors, and jobs outside of colleges are next to nonexistent in some fields like the humanities and sciences.

It’s Time Away From Family

If you have children or grandchildren, a spouse or partner, or parents that require care, earning a Ph.D. will be difficult. You will have to spend many hours studying and researching. Plus, you will probably also have a teaching job to keep up with, as well.

Am I Too Old?

Now that you have looked at what you have to do to earn the degree and all the reasons you should or shouldn’t, you have to ask the question: am I too old?

No, you’re not too old. Universities won’t turn you down because of your age.

The answer is up to you, though, because it’s a personal question that will vary from person to person. Do you still have the energy to put in the work? Do you have the time to spend ten years studying, and time to work enough to see decent pay afterward, so all the hard work will be worth it? You can be in your thirties and decide you’re too old while someone in their fifties decides it’s worth the effort. 

Obtaining a Ph.D. is a long and difficult journey. You need to know what you want to study from the beginning and be certain that you will see it to the end. If you love to learn and want to dedicate your life to a certain subject, then earning a doctorate degree might be the right choice for you.

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• The Chronicle of Higher Education: In Humanities, 10 Years May Not Be Enough to Get a Ph.D.
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Hey there, my name is Anja, I’ve seen and supported my mom’s incredible transformation in her fifties. Seeing how my mom “awakened” and took full control over her life really impressed me. I got inspired and started dreaming about how we could inspire more people, especially women, to open up and create a second life for themselves. That’s how the idea of aginggreatly.com came to life…

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Are you ever too old to get a PhD?

We’ve often seen discussions on social media about whether or not you’re ever too old to get a PhD. This question, which we explore in this post, is more complicated than it immediately appears.

The median age of doctoral recipients in the US is 31.5 years.

According to the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics’ 2020 Survey of Earned Doctorates , the median age of doctoral recipients in the US across all fields (including humanities and education) is 31.5 years. Education graduates tend to be the oldest at approximately 39, while PhDs in the physical sciences tend to be around 29.

While these trends reflect the experience of the majority of PhD graduates, several recent reports by major news outlets like The New York Times, the CBC, and NPR have highlighted the stories of PhDs who received their degrees in their 60s—and even as old as 89, in the case of Manfred Steiner .

Doctoral dreams

Manfred Steiner’s circumstances, in particular, highlight the problems with assuming that it’s never too late to receive a PhD. As NPR’s article points out, Steiner had a decades-long career as a successful doctor and professor of hematology at Brown University before starting his PhD in physics.

After he retired from medicine in 2000, he began taking physics courses at MIT. Years later, he completed his physics PhD at Brown. That is, he pursued a PhD after a successful—and likely lucrative—career as a distinguished doctor at the Ivy League institution from which he retired. These facts make his advice to readers (”follow your dream”) seem rather shallow.

Late-stage PhD success stories are prime examples of the elitism of doctoral education.

Likewise, a 2016 New York Times article , chronicling Robert Hevey’s pursuit of a plant biology PhD in his 60s, notes that Hevey fulfilled his doctoral dreams after a 30-year career as a certified public accountant for “accounting firms and businesses ranging from manufacturing to enterprise software and corporate restructuring.”

In both of these instances, the recipients were already successful, high-level professionals who clearly had the time, leisure, and money to pursue a PhD in their later years. The point is that these exemplars of late-stage PhD success are prime examples of the elitism that plagues doctoral education.

Who actually gets a PhD?

Tracy Evans, who wrote about her experience obtaining a PhD at 66 in Science , confessed that she pursued a doctorate because she “needed a change.” Yet, like both Steiner and Hevey, Evans already possessed advanced degrees in other fields.

That is, all three of the highlighted individuals who pursued a PhD at a later age already demonstrated that they could succeed in a graduate program, in spite of the fact that nearly 50% of PhD students in North America drop out of their programs before completing their degrees.

Why do so many PhD students drop out? Is it because of the grueling and competitive nature of the degree? Is it the case that some simply can’t keep up?

Nearly 50% of PhD students in North America drop out of their programs.

While the rigor and intensity of doctoral programs are typically cited as reasons for the high non-completion rates of admitted students, the reality behind the statistic is more complex—a reality that the above examples of late-stage PhD recipients make excessively clear.

According to a 2022 study of the socioeconomic roots of academic faculty , “family socioeconomic status (SES) […] influences graduate school applications and admissions, as well as students’ experience once accepted” (1). The study surveyed 46,692 tenure-track faculty from over 1300 institutions across most major fields. Over 7,000 faculty members provided information about their parents’ level of education.

The authors explain that “individuals with parents who have a doctorate or professional degree are increasingly overrepresented among doctorate and professional degree holders” (2). In fact, “research on social mobility suggests that the association between parents’ SES and their children’s status is larger among post-graduate than bachelor’s degree recipients” (2).

PhD students whose parents have advanced degrees are more likely to become academic faculty.

The results of the study indicate that “across all disciplines, over half (51.8%) of faculty have at least one parent with a master’s degree or PhD” (4). Importantly, there is a strong correlation between parental education and academic support. Ultimately, this means that PhD students whose parents have advanced degrees are more likely to complete their degrees and go on to become academic faculty.

Is a PhD right at any age?

We need to get past the debilitating, unethical narrative that says PhD programs must be utterly grueling.

In the end, one’s success in a PhD program actually has almost nothing to do with age. You are never too old to get a PhD if your family’s (or your own) income or educational background position you to succeed.

The questions we should be asking are: how can we restructure PhD programs so that they provide the maximum academic, financial, and emotional support for all promising students, regardless of family SES or educational background? How can we rethink the PhD pipeline?

And, finally, how can we get past the debilitating, and frankly unethical, narrative that says that PhD programs must be utterly grueling, emotionally draining, and downright nasty at times?

Chappell, B. (2021, November 7). He always wanted a Ph.D. in physics. He finally earned it at 89.  NPR . https://www.npr.org/2021/11/07/1052005447/brown-university-89-phd-physics-dream

Employment Opportunities. (2019, November 15).  Data snapshot: Graduate students, social class, and academia’s promise . AAUP. https://www.aaup.org/article/data-snapshot-graduate-students-social-class-and-academia%E2%80%99s-promise

Evans, T. (2018, July 12). It’s never too late to stretch your wings: Why I got a Ph.D. at age 66.  Science.org . https://www.science.org/content/article/its-never-too-late-stretch-your-wings-why-i-got-phd-age-66

Kang, K. (2021).  Survey of Earned Doctorates . https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsf22300/data-tables

Litalien, D. (2015, May 12).  Improving PhD completion rates: where should we start?  Wiley.com. https://www.wiley.com/network/researchers/writing-and-conducting-research/improving-phd-completion-rates-where-should-we-start

Miller, M. (2016, April 15). Taking on the ph.D. later in life.  The New York Times . https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/16/your-money/taking-on-the-phd-later-in-life.html

Morgan, A., LaBerge, N., Larremore, D., Galesic, M., Brand, J. E., & Clauset, A. (2021). Socioeconomic roots of academic faculty. In  SocArXiv . https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/6wjxc

Oh, B., & Kim, C. (2020). Broken promise of college? New educational sorting mechanisms for intergenerational association in the 21st century.  Social Science Research ,  86 (102375), 102375. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2019.102375

Ziaee, D. (Last Updated: July 22 2019). Aren’t you too old for that? The late life plunge into a PhD.  CBC News . https://www.cbc.ca/radio/sunday/the-sunday-edition-october-14-2018-1.4858401/aren-t-you-too-old-for-that-the-late-life-plunge-into-a-phd-1.4858402

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Is Midlife too Late for Graduate School?

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Laid off after more than a decade in the corporate world, a reader asks, "At 42 years of age, is it too late for a career in science? I stayed with the job for its fantastic pay. That's over and I've always wanted to make new discoveries. Is it too late to go to graduate school?"

The quick answer is no. Age will not hurt your application if you're prepared. It’s never too late to learn new things, carve out a new career path, and go to graduate school. But it may be more difficult to gain admission to graduate school after several years or decades in a career as compared with fresh out of college simply because of the gap in your education.

What’s much more important than the amount of time elapsed between earning your bachelor’s degree and applying to graduate school is what you have done with that time. Many fields , like business and social work , often prefer applicants to have some work experience. Science fields emphasize a background in science and math. Recent coursework in these areas will aid your application. Demonstrate that you can think abstractly and have the mind of a scientist.

Learn About the Graduate Program: Do You Meet the Basic Requirements?

Once you have decided to apply to grad school after years away from academia your job is to carefully examine each graduate program's requirements. Are there any stated expectations about a particular major, coursework, or outside experiences? Evaluate your background and skill set. Do you have the basics? If not, what can you do to enhance your application? You might take classes in statistics, for example, or volunteer to work in a faculty member's lab . Volunteering is easier once you have taken a class or two and have a basis for a relationship with a professor. That said, it never hurts to ask as every professor could use an extra set of eyes and hands.

GRE Scores are Important!

Good scores on the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) are part of every successful application. However, if you’re applying to grad school after several years, your GRE scores may be even more important for your application because they indicate your potential for graduate study. In the absence of recent indicators (such as graduating within the last few years), standardized test scores may be scrutinized more closely.

Solicit a Range of Recommendation Letters

When it comes to recommendation letters , there are a variety of options for students who have been out of college for several years . Try to obtain at least one that evaluates you within an academic context. Even if you’ve graduated a decade ago you may be able to obtain a letter from a faculty member. Unless you were particularly stellar, he or she may not remember you but the university has a record of your grades and many faculty keep a permanent file of their grades. Even better, if you’ve recently taken a class, request a letter from your professor. Also get a letter(s) from recent employers as they have a current perspective of your work habits and skills.

Be Realistic

Know what you're getting into. Graduate study is not glamorous and not always interesting. It is hard work. You'll be broke. A research assistantship , teaching assistantship , and other funding resources can pay for your tuition and sometimes offer a small stipend but you're not going to support a family on it. If you have a family, think about how you'll manage your family responsibilities. Where will you study and how will you carve out uninterrupted time? You will have more work than you can imagine and it will require more time than you plan . Think about it now so that you're prepared later - and so you prepare your family to support you as needed. There are many students who combine grad school and family quite successfully.

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Aren't you too old for that? The late life plunge into a PhD

More students are taking up a phd later in life — even with no intention of finding work in their field.

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Originally published on October 14, 2018.

When Val Napoleon returned to university to study law, she was one of only two grandparents in her program.

After earning a law degree in her early 40s, she went on to pursue a PhD. She defended her dissertation in 2009 at the age of 53. 

Today, Napoleon is a celebrated Indigenous scholar and a law professor at the University of Victoria.

She's also the director of a new Indigenous law degree program,  which the university describes as the world's first .

For her, graduate school was "a type of driver's licence," she told The Sunday Edition .

"It was a way for me to get to places that I wouldn't otherwise have an opportunity to get into."

Doctoral programs are evolving to address "the changing workplace… job redundancies owing to automation and people needing to upskill later in life," said Matthew McKean, associate director of education at the Conference Board of Canada.

Data from Statistics Canada shows that in 1992, 471 students over the age of 50 enrolled in full-time PhDs. By 2015, that grew to some 2,430, which reflects a "lifelong learning" narrative emerging within post-secondary education in Canada, McKean said.

Making up for lost time

For Lisa Armstrong, taking up a PhD was an opportunity to make up for lost time.

After a troubled relationship with high school, Armstrong turned to bartending and exotic dancing to support her two children as a single mother.

But when her oldest son went off to university, it sparked a desire to learn again.

"I was so excited for him and I really wanted some of that myself," she said. "I was really mourning for the opportunities I felt that I had missed out on when I was younger."

So she enrolled in an undergraduate program, even sharing classes with some of her son's friends.

Now, at the age of 44, she's a PhD student in applied linguistics at Carleton University, researching sexual harassment in the hospitality industry.

Armstrong says she has her sights set on an academic job after she completes her degree, but notes she's faced pushback for her aspirations. She recalled being told by a professor that she was "kind of too old" and didn't have "enough work years left" to secure an academic job.

"I didn't take very kindly to that," Armstrong said. But she remained undeterred.

"For me it always seemed intuitively that it would be worth doing."

Learning for the sake of learning​

But not all older students see PhDs as a pathway to a career.

"[People my age] are doing it out of love of learning... There was never any question for me that I was somehow embarking on a new career," said Brian Pollick, who is completing a PhD in 14th century Italian art history at the University of Victoria.

Before he retired, the 72-year-old worked in the justice field, including as the executive director of the John Howard Society of Alberta.

Pollick says his inspiration for doing a PhD came "like an epiphany" during a post-retirement trip to Italy with his wife, when they saw an exhibit featuring the works of Pompeo Batoni, a mid-18th century painter.

"Somehow, I just knew within moments of being in that exhibition that what I wanted to do was art history."

'I've always wanted to be in the class'

Pollick sees many advantages to pursuing a PhD at his stage in life with no career ambitions in mind.

For younger students who are hoping to find academic work with their degrees, the PhD comes with a great deal of intensity and anxiety, he says.

"What's not there [for me] is the sense that I've got to do this because the rest of my life depends on it. And that's a huge difference, in that it takes away so much of the pressure."

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McKean admits that most conversations in post-secondary education haven't caught up to this demographic.

"Universities are ideally spaces for learning for learning's sake," he said. "But the need for employability and job readiness has become much more urgent than it was in the past."

Victor Malins agrees. At 63 years old, he is a first-year PhD student in British history at York University.

When he's not reading history books, Malins is out on his truck, delivering snack cakes as an independent distributor for Vachon Bakery.

"I always sit in the class … and I think to myself, 'how many of these people actually want to be here?'" 

"I want to be here," Malins added, noting that many younger students are in class because they feel they have to be.

"They're after the piece of paper at the end and they don't care… I've never had that. I've always wanted to be in the class."

Pollick, the art historian, feels the same way.

"I still love my topic. I'm still excited by it. I haven't for a moment said, 'Ah, why did I do this?'" 

As for his advice to others who might be considering a PhD later in life?

"It's a pretty intense journey but it can just be so satisfying," he said. "If you want to do it, do it. And do it joyfully."

To hear more about these students' stories, click 'listen' above for the full documentary. 

Written and produced by Donya Ziaee.

More from this episode

• Canada is unprepared for the demographic time-bomb hurtling at us
• Canada's population needs to be 100 million by 2100
• Dismissed in her lifetime, African-American writer Zora Neale Hurston is considered a legend in ours
• Guest host Peter Armstrong
• FULL EPISODE: The Sunday Edition — October 14, 2018

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What Is The Age Limit for A PhD?

• By Dr Harry Hothi
• August 17, 2020

Introduction

I have seen and personally worked with PhD candidates of all ages, some older than me, some younger. In all my time within academia, I haven’t come across any university that places a limit on the age of an individual that wants to apply for and pursue a full time doctoral degree; indeed the practice of doing so would be rightly considered a form of discrimination at most academic institutions and even against the law in some countries.

However, a quick search on Google is enough to see that the question about age limits for doing a PhD is something that is asked quite often. This leads me to believe that there are many very capable potential doctoral candidates in the world that haven’t pursued their dreams of academic research almost entirely because they believe that they’re too old to do so.

There is No Age Limit for Doing a PhD

Simply put there is no age limit for someone considering doing a PhD. Indeed, on the opposite end of the scale, even the definition of a minimum’ age at which someone can start a PhD is not really well defined.

One of the youngest PhD graduates in recent times is thought to be Kim Ung-Yong who is a South Korean professor who purportedly earned a PhD in civil engineering at the age of 15 [1]. For the vast majority however, the practical considerations of progressing through the different stages of education (i.e. high school, undergraduate degree, a Master’s degree, etc.) mean that most won’t start their PhD projects until they’re at least in their early to mid 20’s; in the UK, for example, the average age for a PhD graduate is between 26 and 27 years old [2].

Meanwhile, the oldest person to be awarded a PhD degree in the United Kingdom is thought to be 95 year old Charles Betty, who gained his doctorate from the University of Northampton in 2018 after completing his 48,000 word thesis on why elderly expats living in Spain decide to return to the UK’ [3].

What does the data say?

According to data published by the National Science Foundation (NSF), a total of 54,904 people earned PhDs at universities in the United States of America in 2016; 46% of all new doctorates were women and 31% were international candidates [4].

Looking at the age distributions available for 51,621 of these new PhD graduates in 2016, 44% (n=22,863) were aged 30 or below, 43% (n=22,038) were aged between 31 and 40 and 13% (n=6,720) were over the age of 40 when they were awarded their doctoral degree. In this same year, over 50% of PhD students in subjects related to physical sciences, earth sciences, life sciences, mathematics, computer sciences and engineering were below the age of 31, whilst less than 10% of these STEM graduates were older than 41.

Conversely, 61% of PhDs in humanities and arts and 52% in other non-engineering and science disciplines gained their doctorates between 31 and 40 years of age. Interestingly, the analysis by the NSF found that 94% of doctoral candidates aged below 31 supported their research financially through research or teaching assistantships, grants or fellowships. Only 36% of PhDs aged over 41 at graduation reported receiving similar types of financial support; approximately 50% of this age group were found to have self-funded their studies.

The reasons for fewer doctoral candidates aged over 41 receiving external funding to support their time as research students is not clear. On the face of it, the data may appear to suggest a bias towards funding younger students which unfortunately may be the case in some instances. In Germany, for example, the German Federal Training Assistance Act (BAfG) provides funding support for higher education but places a limit of 30 years for undergraduate degrees and 35 years for postgraduate students at graduate school. However, another explanation, at least in some cases, may be that non-STEM related subjects are less likely to be associated with specific project funding and NSF analysis suggests PhDs in these subjects are more often undertaken by older doctoral candidates.

What are the Advantages and Disadvantages?

No one should be discouraged from pursuing a PhD program or entering into higher education based on how old they are and indeed there are several (albeit subjective) benefits and disadvantages of doing a PhD in your younger’ or older’ years.

A perceived advantage may be that gaining a PhD in your 20’s can potentially give you more time to develop your career. Younger doctoral students could earn their PhD and enter into academic jobs before starting a family (although many people successfully carry out doctoral research whilst also looking after young children). You could even afford yourself the time and flexibility to implement a career change further down the line if you so wanted.

Conversely, entering a graduate school and becoming a PhD student in later years means that you’ll be doing so having gained a lot more life experience and for some STEM research projects in particular, having work experience in industry can be invaluable. As an older PhD candidate you’re likely to be better equipped to work independently and the relationships / connections you’ll have built over time may be a useful factor in helping you progress faster. I’ve met several older students at university who had the opportunity to undertake PhD research years ago but have no regrets in having waited and started the adventure in later years.

Finding a PhD has never been this easy – search for a PhD by keyword, location or academic area of interest.

It’s inevitable that the question of age limits for pursing a PhD is going to invite some controversial opinions from some people; this unfortunately may always be the case when talking about differing social and demographic factors.

There’s no doubt however that PhD programs can help career advancement or a career change regardless of age however there’s also nothing to stop you from becoming a graduate student just for the academic pursuit!

The answer here is very simple: there is no age limit for doing a PhD.

[1] http://scienceandnaturea.blogspot.com

[2] https://www.eui.eu/

[3] https://www.telegraph.co.uk/

[4] https://ncses.nsf.gov/

In this post you’ll learn what the significance of the study means, why it’s important, where and how to write one in your paper or thesis with an example.

Starting your PhD can feel like a daunting, exciting and special time. They’ll be so much to think about – here are a few tips to help you get started.

An abstract and introduction are the first two sections of your paper or thesis. This guide explains the differences between them and how to write them.

Join thousands of other students and stay up to date with the latest PhD programmes, funding opportunities and advice.

Browse PhDs Now

A concept paper is a short document written by a researcher before starting their research project, explaining what the study is about, why it is needed and the methods that will be used.

There’s no doubt about it – writing can be difficult. Whether you’re writing the first sentence of a paper or a grant proposal, it’s easy

Dr Ilesanmi has a PhD in Applied Biochemistry from the Federal University of Technology Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria. He is now a lecturer in the Department of Biochemistry at the Federal University Otuoke, Bayelsa State, Nigeria.

Dr Tuohilampi gained her PhD in Mathematics Education from the University of Helsinki in 2016. She is now a lecturer at the University of Helsinki, a Research Fellow at the University of New South Wales, Sydney and has also founded the company Math Hunger.

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With age comes wisdom – how to succeed as a mature PhD student

Nov 2, 2020

Have you checked out the rest of  The PhD Knowledge Base ? It’s home to hundreds more free resources and guides, written especially for PhD students. 

Author: Jessica Rieder

A younger version of you pursued your undergraduate studies and was happy with the accomplishment. However, you decided to leave academia and seek other life interests. Maybe you travelled the world, climbed the corporate ladder, or started a family.

For me, it was a   combination of things, but I always felt that I still wasn’t where I wanted to be. I always wanted to complete a PhD, but I thought a PhD was no longer a realistic dream when my life plans changed unexpectedly. Even though I could rationally accept this, my desire to reach this goal still burned deep inside me. As time went on, the biggest excuse became I am too “old” to start a PhD. However, life changed again, and suddenly, it was possible. It was like a dream coming true.

The excitement of starting a graduate degree was motivating and exhilarating. However, at some point, usually, when comparing yourself to a traditional student, you might have begun to doubt your decision to return to school.

Here in this post, I want to share my advice for those starting a PhD as a mature student.

Hello, Doctor…

Sounds good, doesn’t it?  Be able to call yourself Doctor sooner with our five-star rated How to Write A PhD email-course. Learn everything your supervisor should have taught you about planning and completing a PhD.

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Your struggle will be different

As a mature student, you are going to face different challenges than a traditional student. Often, the first challenge is accepting that you are right where you need to be, regardless of age. Sure, when you look around and see a classroom of students who are years younger than you, it can feel intimidating. However, age is not a determining factor in success. On the contrary, it can   actually be your friend, because with age often comes maturity and direction.

You’ll be less engaged

Another challenge is, “ how am I going to have the energy of my fellow younger students”? The fact is you probably won ’ t – not only because of biology but because you are probably balancing more than just graduate studies. You have additional responsibilities, requiring extra time and energy. Often, we don ’ t have the luxury of lazy weekends for rest and relaxation. However, you consciously decided to embark on this road, and the internal motivation you harbour will drive you to success.

Your PhD thesis. All on one page.

Use our free PhD structure template to quickly visualise every element of your thesis. 

Work-life balance will be a challenge 

Another challenge is, “ how are we going to conquer late-night studying or working in the lab, like our younger colleagues when we have to be home by 6:00 PM?” Finding a work-life balance will not always be easy, but remember, we are mature students. We have already been balancing a career and life, and a PhD is no different to any other job, in that there are goals and deadlines that need to be met.

You’ve got this 

When you think of the three most common fears of being a mature student, you quickly realize they are manageable. Age, who cares, enjoy getting to hang out with traditional students, both parties have something to teach each other. Energy, well, we have coffee, right? And time is no one ’ s friend.

In spite of the few setbacks associated with being a mature student, there are many more pros. We come equipped with life experiences and skills to handle challenges. We have had time to find ourselves and to discover our passions. And we know why we want to pursue a graduate degree, which is often not the case for many traditional students.

Knowing what we want will make it easier for us to focus, stay on track, and not chase dead-ends.

We have learned how to prioritise work, allowing us to be more efficient. We have learned about our strengths and weaknesses, and we can compensate accordingly. We have learned how to effectively communicate with people in a higher position, allowing us to say, “ yes, that sounds interesting, but no, thank you.”

We see our professors, not as gods, but as academic resources to help us reach our goals. We often handle stress better, and we don ’ t sweat the small stuff. We know that setbacks happen, but we have learned to try again without focusing on the negative. We have learned the tools needed to succeed in the work field and can now apply them to the academic arena.

Last words of advice

To my fellow mature graduate students, we might be older, but we are wiser or at least more disciplined. We are equipped with life skills that have been sharpened and honed over the years. We have the tools required to tackle the different challenges that we will face in our graduate program. We have wisdom and experience to guide us through our next chapter. So, the next time you look around your graduate group and see a bunch of 20-year-old faces, just remember: you hold the tools for success.

Jessica Rieder is a PhD candidate at the University Bern, majoring in Ecology and Evolution. Her research focuses on understanding the role of microbial communities within aquaculture and how their structure impacts fish health and developing new tools for detecting and monitoring pathogens, both in aquaculture and nature.

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What is the PhD student average age? Too late for your doctorate?

You may be worried about being too old to start a PhD. However, I would like to remind you that throughout my 15 years in academia, I have seen PhD students fresh from undergraduate and many mature age students who are looking for a new challenge or doing a PhD alongside their current role.

The average age of a PhD student varies depending on the field of study and individual circumstances but generally ranges from late 20s to early 30s. The average age upon graduation across multiple fields, in the US, is 31.5 years old.

This suggests that many students may start a PhD program directly after completing their undergraduate degree. However, there are many that pursue a PhD after working in their field for a few years.

I have seen that some students may take longer to complete their PhD due to personal or professional obligations. And overcoming these issues is as much of a challenge as their actual PhD.

If you like more information about the average age of a PhD student check out my YouTube video below.

In this article, we will look at the average age of PhD students and grab some data from universities.

One thing I want to say upfront, however, is do not worry about your age. There are many other things that are full more important than your age for completing a PhD. I have seen young PhD students struggle far more than mature age students.

Maturity and having things settled in your life can really help provide the stability required for finishing a PhD.

What Is The Average Age Of PhD Students?

 The average age of PhD students is quite varied, depending on the field of study.

Generally speaking however, the average age of a PhD student can range from 27 to 37 years old.

You can see in the table, below, that physical sciences and earth sciences PhD graduates are typically younger than those in other fields . This is because of the culture of going straight from your undergraduate into a PhD.

On the other hand, education PhD graduates are much older . This is because they typically have many more years of first-hand experience teaching in a high school or another educational environment. This delays the onset of their PhD admission significantly compared to other fields.

If you want to know more about age and grad school check out my other articles:

• Typical Graduate Student Age [Data for Average Age]
• Older PhDs student experiences – should you pursue a PhD later in life?
• What is the average masters students age? Should you return to graduate school?
• Balancing PhD and family life – tips for balancing a busy life

What age do most people get their PhD?

The age at which most people receive their PhD varies from person to person, but typically falls between the mid-twenties and early thirties.

The average age for a PhD recipient is approximately thirty-one and a half years old.

Of course, there are some who complete their PhD much earlier or later than this.

Many students complete their studies in their twenties, while others may spend longer due to life or work commitments.

Those who are already established in a career may only begin studying for a PhD once they reach middle age.

Although the age of most recipients is usually between twenty-five and thirty-five, it is important to remember that everyone’s journey will be different, so it’s important not to put pressure on yourself to finish within any particular timeframe.

Here is a list of fields and the average age upon graduation. That means, the age at which they start their PhD is 5 – 7  years earlier.

I graduated my PhD when I was 27 years old. This is due to a couple of reasons:

• I did a four-year undergraduate masters which accelerated my entrance to a PhD.
• I did my PhD in Australia which typically takes 3 to 4 years.
• I was classed as an international student and therefore had to finish under three years otherwise I have had to pay $20,000.

All of these reasons meant that I was very young to complete my doctorate. However, throughout my later post-Doctoral positions I encountered people from every age bracket doing a PhD.

Importantly, it is never too late to get a PhD – here’s why.

When Is It Too Late to Get a Doctorate?

In my opinion, it is never too late to get a PhD, as long as you’re willing to commit the time and effort into pursuing an academic career.

I have seen older PhD students thrive in academia because they are working towards something they really care about.

One of the most important aspects is to make sure that you are prepared for the financial burden, as getting a PhD involves taking on loans or debt in order to fund the program.

Sometimes, older students have greater financial responsibilities such as mortgages and debt. Being mindful of your decreased earning power will help make your time during your PhD much nicer.

Some other aspects of getting a doctorate in later years include:

• greater financial responsibility for family
• ageing parents requiring care
• children or other dependent people
• mortgage stress
• lifestyle expectations – going back to a student lifestyle may not be for every older PhD student.

Entering a PhD program with this in mind will help make sure that you are able to focus on your studies and minimise the distractions.

What Is The Best Age to pursue a doctoral degree?

There is no best age to pursue a doctoral degree as the best age to get a PhD depends on the individual’s circumstances.

For me, it was best for me to enter my PhD straight out of university. That is when I had the most financial security and energy and interest in pursuing a PhD.

For other people – career goals, interests, and motivation to do a PhD may happen at a later stage in their life.

Although, you can do a PhD too early.

Generally, it is recommended that students wait until they are at least 22 or 23 to pursue their PhD, as this gives them time to gain some life experience and an opportunity to develop and refine their academic skills.

Those who are pursuing a PhD later in life may find that having more years of work experience can be beneficial when it comes to finishing their studies.

There is no one-size-fits-all answer when it comes to determining the best age to get a PhD; each person’s situation will be unique and you should factor that into your decision.

Is 30 plus too old for a PhD?

When it comes to deciding whether or not 30 is too old for a PhD, the answer depends on the individual.

 A PhD requires a great deal of dedication and commitment, so if you are willing to make that kind of commitment, then age should not be an issue.

Many people have entered into doctoral programs later in life and achieved success.

There are also some advantages to being a mature student;

• life experience
• Writing practise
• A better understanding of your field
• Professional experience to draw upon
• Better networks

All of which can be beneficial when completing research or writing your dissertation.

That being said, it is important to consider how much time you will need to dedicate to your studies, as well as other commitments such as work and family. If you feel like you can manage both, then 30 and above is absolutely not too old for a PhD!

Wrapping up

This article has covered everything you need to know about the average age of PhD students. It is field dependent and many PhD students are typically in their 20s to early 30s.

Even though many people get a PhD straight out of their undergraduate, there are many benefits for older people to consider becoming a PhD student.

The personal challenges may be slightly different but the underlying challenge of creating new novel research and communicating that to the world via peer-reviewed papers and theses are the same.

Dr Andrew Stapleton has a Masters and PhD in Chemistry from the UK and Australia. He has many years of research experience and has worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow and Associate at a number of Universities. Although having secured funding for his own research, he left academia to help others with his YouTube channel all about the inner workings of academia and how to make it work for you.

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How old is too old for a PhD?

Are there any age limits (formal, informal, or guidelines) that schools use when deciding to accept someone into a PhD program? I'm most curious about the upper age limits. For example, will most schools accept someone in their 40's? How about their 50's?

• graduate-admissions

• 7 Personally I would be heavily surprised if a university does use age as a factor especially if one is still in the working age range –  Eminem Commented Sep 26, 2012 at 6:01
• 1 Related q: academia.stackexchange.com/questions/902/… –  Bravo Commented Sep 26, 2012 at 14:53
• 16 I'm a little surprised this is being marked duplicate of a question which was posted 2 years after this question was posted (July 2014). –  earthling Commented Apr 6, 2015 at 22:30
• 6 @earthling few years ago, an 80-year old student in my uni graduated with a PhD. –  santa Commented Oct 26, 2015 at 1:20
• 20 Dead. Dead is too old for PhD. –  NovemberSierra Commented Oct 15, 2017 at 1:12

11 Answers 11

I would imagine most institutions would consider it discriminatory to judge on age, and in some places it would just be illegal. The real consideration is always whether the prospective candidate has a reasonable chance of success. Having appropriate education, or a reasonable substitute is of course the main criterion, though demonstrating research-level ability always helps (research publications etc.).

Personally I have seen PhD candidates of all ages. There's some skew to the distribution across disciplines (business and history for example often have higher proportions of older doctoral candidates than, say, mathematics), but this seems to be more a socio-cultural thing than any institutional influence.

• 2 I completely agree with this post. There was a 6x year old PhD candidate in my old group that worked 4 days of the week for a company, while 1 day in the week he would be working on his research. He needed a bit longer than more 'traditional' PhD candidates but still finished his PhD successfully. –  Bas Jansen Commented Feb 28, 2017 at 14:38
• @bas what university was this? I doubt top schools allow for part time PhDs. Must be a state school, or some European country? –  PKHunter Commented Jun 20, 2020 at 23:17
• It was at a European institute yes, with his PhD being funded by his company. –  Bas Jansen Commented Jun 25, 2020 at 10:11

At the university where I work, there are no limitations or guidelines on appropriate age ranges for a Ph.D., and I'm sure this is true throught the US since age discrmination would be illegal. In practice, we see the opposite problem regarding age: the application rate in mathematics is very low after the mid-20's, although we would be happy to consider older candidates. It may be that they just aren't interested in applying (if you have a family or are used to earning a high salary, then going back to school may be difficult or unappealing; furthermore, everyone is exposed to enough math in childhood that perhaps relatively few people first discover a fascination with it at an older age). However, I fear that there are people who would really like to go back and get a Ph.D., but who do not apply, because they believe they are too old to do mathematics research or because they do not believe they will be admitted. That would be sad, since I've known several extremely successful mathematicians who entered grad school well beyond the typical age.

• 4 If only your message was more widely publicized! I'm writing as a mid-50s PhD student who looked at dozens of department web sites at top research universities. I can't remember a single mention of older applicants and whether they'd be well received or successful in those PhD programs. I had to in-person interviews, and neither said anything positive about older applicants. –  MrMeritology Commented Jul 4, 2014 at 6:54
• 1 I'm 65 and now applying to grad schools (computer science). I just completed my second MS (in CS), the first earned many decades ago in mathematics. I'm only applying to some highly ranked programs. We'll soon see! :-) –  Rafael_Espericueta Commented Oct 24, 2017 at 23:03

This is a slightly different view of some issues raised in a recent answer .

That answer stated some of the disadvantages of being a mature PhD student, but missed several major advantages that mature students can have, especially if they have worked in their field of study.

I worked in the computer industry from 1970 to 2002, when I left to become a CS graduate student, completing my PhD in 2009.

Long hours. The article asked "Are you ready to pull all-nighters and push yourself to the limit (mentally and physically)?". I was definitely not ready to pull all-nighters, and never needed to. I had spent decades on projects far more complicated than one student's studies, and knew better than to leave a hard-deadline task until just before the deadline.

Over-long working hours lead to mistakes and reduced productivity. It is much more efficient to mix work with plenty of sleep and a reasonable amount of exercise and relaxation. Mature students have had more time to get work-life balance under control than recent graduates.

Not well paid. The article seemed to assume financial dependence on the PhD program. That is true for most recent graduates. Mature students, especially after successful careers in a technical field, may have other financial resources. I supported myself and paid my tuition out of my investment income while living in a house I owned.

Background knowledge. This is the area where a mature student may have the biggest advantage. There is an immense difference between passing an undergraduate course in a topic and spending several years of one's working life living and breathing it.

Staying employable in the computer industry for decades requires continuous study. I had already read some of the assigned papers for seminar courses, and earlier editions of a couple of course textbooks. Studying was easier in college because I could get advice on what to read, saving me the effort of working out what I was going to need to know next year.

After the PhD. In my case I took a year off to celebrate after the PhD, and enjoyed it so much I retired. I can still use my skills answering questions on StackOverflow, helping a college robotics team, and participating in open source software development. That is an option I would not have had thirty years earlier.

If I had looked for paid work, I would not have considered jobs as a postdoc or similar. That would ignore almost all of my resume. I was more likely to return to industry, because I prefer a pure technical path that the academic world does not seem to offer.

• 1 I think my answer was misread. I didn't want to point shortcomings of mature graduate students. I simply wanted to put out there some issues that one should think about before plunging in, according to my limited experience. In your case, you had all the correct answers and succeeded. Good for you! However, I've seen mature PhD students failing because they didn't think about these stuff. I simply wanted to say "Follow your heart, but make sure you think about these points before they bite you!" –  electrique Commented Oct 31, 2015 at 22:44
• 2 @electrique I didn't see your answers as pointing out shortcomings, but as having been written very much from a young person's point of view. –  Patricia Shanahan Commented Oct 31, 2015 at 23:22
• 2 +1 Just got my PhD at 57. Didn't work long hours. Was able to do most of my research during work hours because my area of research was of interest to the company, so I had a good income. –  mhwombat Commented Oct 14, 2017 at 17:32

I know this is an older question but recently similar questions have popped up. So, I'll give my input as a recently graduated PhD.

My answer : It's never late to do a PhD, but you need to be well informed what you are signing up for. I explain.

Long hours . During my PhD I needed to work crazy hours. It's a creative process that can consume all your time. I was thinking about my work day and night. It's easy to say that I'll work 8-5 on my PhD, but I don't know any PhD student that managed to do that. You can count for lost weekends, lost vacations, sleepless nights before the big conference deadline, etc. Are you ready to pull all-nighters and push yourself to the limit (mentally and physically)? Is your family ready to accept this state of living? Will your wife/children (if any) show understanding?

Not well paid . Then, it's the financial part. Some PhD positions are well-paid, some positions (e.g. in most UK unies) you just survive, and other are unpaid. At the age of XX, you are probably used to some specific quality of life. Are you willing to sacrifice this for doing a PhD? If the position is paid, then does the salary cover your current expenses? If it's unpaid, do you have the financial resources to support yourself and your family for 4-5 years?

Background knowledge . How up-to-date are you with the current developments in your field? Many people start their PhD right after the master studies, thus they are in the studying mood and usually are up to date. You might be required to take some of those graduate level courses. These assume some background knowledge. Do you have / remember that? Especially in technical fields, you need to keep updating all the time...

After the PhD . Then it's the reason. Why do you want to do a PhD? Is it for the knowledge? After the PhD, what do you dream to do? If you plan for an academic career, you should know that you'll have to start from a lower position (postdoc, lecturer, etc.) and work your way through the ranks. Early-stage academic positions demand a huge amount of time. If you want to go for industry positions with PhD requirements, they usually have an experience requirement, so be prepared to start low.

My experiences . I believe age by itself is not a problem. I've had a colleague in his 40s doing a PhD and he did an excellent job. On the other hand another student in his 50s that gave up after 6 months. His computer skills were very bad and it was clear that he lacked (or had forgotten) key knowledge in the field (electrical engineering). Although we all tried to help him out, the pressure was too high and at the end of the day, you have to carry your own weight.

Good luck in whatever you decide!

I recall one case at Ohio State where someone who had retired from the US Army at age 55, then entered graduate school in mathematics.

Ohio State also had a program where tuition is waived for anyone over age 65 (or was it 60?). I recall a few such people taking a graduate course in math, but none working on a Ph.D.

• 1 The University of Maryland has a similar program. –  cpast Commented Apr 6, 2015 at 17:47
• 3 My great aunt took advantage of such a program at a college in Brooklyn, amassing two additional undergraduate degrees. She was a student until she passed away at age 100. –  Stella Biderman Commented Oct 14, 2017 at 12:47

I received my PhD at the age of 65. I have a job working in my humanities profession as an adjunct and getting the expected pay for it. I have been hired for the maximum amount of hours permitted. My department chair seems to like me. My position is not a lucrative one but a retirement job. It is a job where I can research and write at my leisure without worrying about having to publish.So, jobs are out there and if being in your 30s, 40s, 50s plus is stopping you, think about what you really want from academia -- careers in teaching colleges are increasingly going on-line. The old-time professor has retreated to the nursing home. Academia is now more about corporate structure and business modeling. All academics should have updated computer skills and ready to learn anything new placed upon the desk. Publish on line. Team up with younger co-workers. Be passionate about the job at hand. In some ways, I am lucky. I do not need a tenured position. In surveying the field, I'm not sure I would want one.

It really depends on which institute you are attending. I did my undergrad at UC Irvine where it was very rare to see older grad students. Most grad students at UCI were accepted directly from their undergraduate programs but at the University of Nevada School of Medicine (UNSOM) where I am doing my PhD, most students have a few years of experience and so are a few years older ~30+. It never hurts to call the program head directly.

I am 73 and in my second year of a PhD program. It will be my second doctorate - the first in law and this one in sociology. I also have an MBA which I earned after I became 70 years of age.

I really never think about my age; I just do it because it's what I want to do.

• That's inspiring –  earthling Commented Jun 12, 2019 at 13:52
• This truly is a super thread and posts like yours are so heartening, inspiring. Thank you and all the best for your phd! –  PKHunter Commented Jun 20, 2020 at 23:33

If we agree that PhD holder at any level in academic position primary duty is to stimulating young scholars to correct path then expertise is vital. Consider a professor with years of experience in industry can profoundly support youth to learn meaningful objects than naïve one. the most shortage in developing countries academic education clearly is that scholars really don't know what is expecting them after graduation. skillful professor equipped with advanced theory and IT capability has profound affect positively rather very young tyro who still needs help. the best age in my opinion for PhD is in range of 35-45.

No age is too old, but your prospects for what happens after - what you might be able to do with your degree - do change.

It always amazes me that there are so many questions about what the maximum age for a PhD is and none about what the minimum "age" (experience) should be.

In my opinion, no one should be awarded a Ph.D. without a minimum of 20 years of professional experience. With the sole exception of doctorates "honoris causa" that could be awarded at any age, to recognize the merits of the true geniuses that so rarely appear.

Therefore, every educational institution should not only allow, but prioritize, the return of professionals who can contribute knowledge and experience in their work areas and want to share his/her knowledge in the form of a thesis.

At least in my country every year there are thousands of new doctors under 30, whose PhD thesis do not deserve the wood of the tree in which they have been printed.

• 1 Are you sure you are not confusing a phd degree with a medal for successful professionals? –  user111388 Commented Feb 5, 2021 at 19:38
• 1 First, it's (where I am) 3-4 years after a master degree. Next, a phd is a recognition that one did useful scientific research, not that one revolutionized the world. This one can do after 9 years of studying. Just like a Bachelor degree is saying that the person knows the basics of their field, a phd degree does not say that the holder is the best. Also, it would be bad to generally give degrees only to industry researchers as companies do not do research for mankind's advancement, just to make more money. For example, I don't know of any progress in companies regarding literature science –  user111388 Commented Feb 5, 2021 at 20:20
• (@user111388) NP problem: a problem that allows an exponential number of articles and thesis stating that they are better than the previous one. –  pasaba por aqui Commented Feb 6, 2021 at 18:54
• I don't understand what is this supposed to mean. Anyway, a phd thesis does not have to be better than the ones before. I think the recognition you are looking for is a "professorship". –  user111388 Commented Feb 6, 2021 at 19:01
• A PhD is not a DSc. The latter is all but forgotten and the former is often used as if it were the latter. All of this is a bit strange and the result of a convoluted history, but this is where things stand. –  Deipatrous Commented Jun 7, 2022 at 8:45

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Starting a PhD… at 58 years old?

Did you know that the average age on entry to a PhD in Australia is 34 years old? Over the time I have been whispering this average age gets older and older. There are a few PhD students at ANU who enrolled in their PhD in their late sixties and early seventies. It’s never too late to pursue the PhD dream, but what’s it like for people who are older to be surrounded by younger students all the time? Catherine Racine offers her story.

Dr Catherine Racine is an independent Canadian scholar who graduated from Durham University in 2017 after living in the UK for seven years. Her thesis was titled  “Beyond Clinical Reduction: Levinas, the Ethics of Wonder and the Practice of Autoethnography in Community Mental Health Care,” and examined the moral process of the clinician and the intractable problem of dehumanization in community mental health care. She is a member of several professional research organisation and  is currently starting her own consulting practice.

I completed a Ph.D. at 63, two weeks before falling in love for the first time in a decade and frittering away two post-doc years swanning around Europe, circling the globe from Canada to Europe and returning at last to my tiny pied-a-terre in downtown Vancouver. At the tender age of 65 I am,  this week , beginning my new career as an independent scholar and you better believe I’m scared, but also excited. I forfeited a decent pension as a government employed psychotherapist to fulfill this dream and must now support myself because my little pension won’t cut it.

Like many women who dread becoming bag ladies, I agonized over the financial pros and cons of my Ph.D. dream and not a few friends echoed my fear. “Will you ever work again? Can you afford this? What about your  pension ?” But pitting my yearning of many years to undertake this work against the terror of financial insecurity finally seemed a desecration and the yearning won.

I may regret the decision to have escaped the intellectual wasteland and micromanagement of my workplace for another eight years but I doubt it.  I could have stayed and still be listening to the suffering of those who come to community mental health centres for help. I could still be witnessing  and  contributing to their dehumanization, and enduring the appalling limits of “care” that can be offered in my role. Instead, I travelled to Durham, in North East England, to examine the ethics of wonder in community mental health care. I now find I’ve rather a lot to say on the matter and the responsibility and authority to say it.

Was I crazy? Was it worth starting this project at 58 – self-funded – when the colleagues I left behind were putting in their last years of work and socking away their pensions and RRSP contributions? Hell yes. I fulfilled a major life’s dream of doing this Ph.D. and even managed a perfect pass. I reoriented my life, my perspective and claimed a clearer, stronger unapologetic voice for the work that lies ahead. How could I regret that or the Herculean effort it took that showed me who I am?

I have a big year planned of writing and publishing, public speaking and starting an online counselling business, but who knows what lies ahead. Have I  ever  earned a living doing any of those things? No, but this Ph.D. guarantees that if I can’t walk on water I can dive confidently into any deep end trusting I won’t drown. That’s money in the bank. That’s also why I’m writing to extend a wholehearted  plea  to any woman over the age of 50 who has ever nursed the dream of doing a Ph.D. sometime in her life to get cracking! Getting a Ph.D. is not a waste of time, effort or resources just because a woman is half-way or more through her life. It is not a “vanity degree” although I have heard more than one academic asshole suggest as much. This lengthy and expensive undertaking has been the most galvanizing, transformative and confirming of my entire life.

The bloody-mindedness and stamina it demands and the suffering it pretty much guarantees makes a Ph.D. as far from a thrill-seeking venture as one can get. There is nothing quick, dirty or particularly “fun” about it as the literature on Ph.D. related depression will tell you, but it gives . Completing a Ph.D. grows you up, develops your grit, gives you a thicker skin, hones your discipline, engages with your deepest passion and vastly expands your limited self-perception and understanding of the many confinements imposed by the world around you. It is a serious, mysterious undertaking and its process and gravitas are priceless at any age.

Learning to  see  how power works, how it is used and abused within the university system and even by academics engaged in work attempting to subvert the “dominant discourse,” was the most surprising gift. This was the game changer that enabled me to more than “glimpse” the underpinnings of all those limitations I had thought were self-imposed, justified or impossible to overcome but never were. The process of the PhD can give the older woman the keys to the engine room of her culture, gender, race and class, and the blueprint of the precision machinery that propagates her ongoing suppression. This means she can never again seriously doubt the gravity of her situation, her capacity to respond or her ability to see beyond to what is yet to be imagined . That’s quite a payoff.

There are many reasons why pursuing the dream of a Ph.D. at 50 or 60 or even 70 or 80—why not?—could be the greatest move a woman will ever make. Even, that is, if her chances of working in the Academy are already diminished by her age and sex, which they surely are. But, then again maybe they don’t need to be if greater numbers of older women came forward to assert their place at this high table. I am preaching to the choir, but the interests of the “mature” female student cannot be overstated given what they have to offer, and their impressive under-representation in the post-graduate student body. The university is no more immune to the scourges of ageism and sexism than the rest of our culture, regardless of how inclusive it may claim to be. University is a young person’s game and this poses a significant barrier to women like me, and possibly you, and is all the more reason to confront it and break it down.

Had I known what this adventure would cost —in every way—I would never have had the courage to jump. But having become a scholar and  seen  all that was needed to complete this beast, having travelled, made many new friends and colleagues and joined communities within and beyond the Academy, my heart fails me to think of all I would have lost had I just stayed home.

Thanks for your courage Catherine! Are you an older person enrolled in a PhD program – or perhaps you have finished and wondering what comes next? Love to hear your about your experience in the comments.

[Later Edit}

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The Thesis Whisperer is written by Professor Inger Mewburn, director of researcher development at The Australian National University . New posts on the first Wednesday of the month. Subscribe by email below. Visit the About page to find out more about me, my podcasts and books. I'm on most social media platforms as @thesiswhisperer. The best places to talk to me are LinkedIn , Mastodon and Threads.

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Watch CBS News

Dear David: Stories of triumph — a marathon runner, a 79-year-old graduate and a 6-year-old kitten foster hero

By David Begnaud

August 26, 2024 / 12:31 PM EDT / CBS News

This edition of "Beg-Knows America"  shines a spotlight on inspiring stories of perseverance and compassion, including a man who defied paralysis to run marathons, a 79-year-old who fulfilled his dream of graduating college, and a 6-year-old girl who has dedicated herself to fostering kittens.

Man defies paralysis 13 years after life-changing surgery

In 2009, Ian Bowen faced a terrifying diagnosis when a tumor was found on his spine. Doctors at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota warned him that removing a piece of the tumor to determine if it was cancerous could paralyze him. Bowen courageously told the doctors to proceed.

Although the tumor turned out to be non-cancerous, he woke up paralyzed from the chest down due to a treatable nerve disease.

Doctors doubted Bowen would ever walk again without crutches and believed running was out of the question. But Bowen was determined to prove them wrong. He began years of intense rehabilitation, refusing to give up.

Flash forward to 2022: Bowen defied all odds and ran a marathon, 13 years after being paralyzed. The experience brought him joy, but it also left him wanting more.

"I think I want to do this again but only better and faster," Bowen said.

And he did.

In May, Bowen ran another marathon near the Mayo Clinic, where his surgery took place. To his surprise, the medical team that treated him years ago was waiting for him at the finish line.

"Never give up. You are more powerful than you realize—and truly, when you connect your mind and your heart, anything is possible," Bowen said.

At 79, former cop is oldest graduate at Texas A&M Central Texas

Chuck Simmons, a former Houston police officer, recently made history at Texas A&M Central Texas by becoming the oldest graduate in the school's history at 79 years old. After running out of things to read during the COVID-19 pandemic, Simmons decided to finish his undergraduate degree, which he had started 50 years earlier.

In May, Simmons walked across the stage to receive his degree in criminal justice. And he isn't stopping there. He is now taking master's courses in homeland security and plans to volunteer his time as a court-appointed special advocate for neglected children.

"I never known where life would take me to be honest, I never knew I would be here, I never knew that I would be a policeman," Simmons said. "I want to encourage my grandkids, my great-grandkids, people that are older, people younger—you can do it, and there are many ways."

Among his many accomplishments, Simmons also shared a lighter memory from his past: Elvis Presley once fell on him while he was working security at a concert. 

Girl becomes life-saving volunteer for foster kittens

Naomi, a 6-year-old from Louisville, Kentucky, has been an all-star volunteer for the city's Department of Animal Services for the past three years. Despite her young age, Naomi has already cared for at least 71 foster kittens since she started volunteering at Louisville Metro Animal Services.

Naomi's love for animals is deeply rooted in her own experience—she was a foster child before being adopted by her family in 2020. Her favorite part of volunteering is cuddling with the kittens, but her work goes far beyond snuggling. Naomi has learned the difficult lesson that "letting a foster go" is hard, but by fostering them, she gives them a chance to survive and find their forever families.

David Begnaud loves uncovering the heart of every story and will continue to do so, highlighting everyday heroes and proving that there is good news in the news with his exclusive "CBS Mornings" series "Beg-Knows America." Every Monday, get ready for moments that will make you smile or even shed a tear. Do you have a story about an ordinary person doing something extraordinary for someone else? Email David and his team at  [email protected]

• Mayo Clinic
• Texas A&M

David Begnaud is a CBS News contributor and previously served as the lead national correspondent for "CBS Mornings," based in New York City.

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A 60 Year-Old’s Crepey Neck ‘Completely Smoothed Out’ With This Firming Cream

It plumps and tightens skin.

Shape / Getty

Taking care of skin can oftentimes feel overwhelming. So much so that it’s easy to forget that other parts of our bodies need that same attention other than our face. While everyone has different skin types and textures , wrinkle prevention is always a good idea. And if you find yourself with so-called “ turkey neck ” or tech neck lines, I’d suggest trying Dermelect’s Self-Esteem Cream , which is specifically formulated to firm and nourish the skin on the neck and décolleté.

This $45 toning cream is formulated with beta hydroxy acids (best known in its form as salicylic acid) and alpha hydroxy acid which work together to improve sagging, loose, wrinkled skin on the neckline. While BHAs slough away dead skin cells to target uneven skin texture and tone, AHAs exfoliate the skin’s surface to reveal new skin cells that can help soften fine lines and wrinkles. 

Dermelect Self-Esteem Neck Firming Lift Cream  

Kim Nicols , M.D., a board-certified dermatologist based in Connecticut, previously told Shape that AHAs are beneficial particularly for those with mature, darker skin types. "When you use an ingredient such as alpha hydroxy acids, they work to reveal that underlying layer of healthy skin. Eventually, they reveal a more vibrant and youthful glow," Dr. Kim Nicols said. "AHAs can also increase the thickness of deeper layers of skin and restore that firmness." In addition to this, AHAs can be used for mild hypopigmentation such as age spots, melasma, and scars along with enlarged pores and uneven skin tone, dermatologist Dr. Macrene Alexiades explained in the same Shape interview.  

These chemical exfoliants aren’t the only noteworthy extracts in this firming formula. The Dermelect Self-Esteem neck cream contains another anti-aging ingredient, green tea extract , which defends against free radicals that can cause skin to age. Not to mention, it’s also incredibly soothing for skin thanks to its anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties. What’s more, this lotion features super moisturizing extracts such as shea butter and avocado oil to keep skin soft and plump. 

Many reviewers noticed improvements in their neck’s skin texture after using the cream. “I'm almost 60 and my neck looks at least 10 years younger,” said a reviewer who added that their “crepe” skin has “completely smoothed out.” A second user raved that this lifting cream “dramatically reduced the crepe under [their] skin” as well as their tech neck lines. Other shoppers shared that it “tightens flabby skin” and leaves skin “velvety to touch.”

Shop the Dermelect Self-Esteem Neck Cream for $45 for firmer, hydrated appearance. Below, browse through more skin-firming moisturizers from $20. 

Mario Badescu Vitamin A-D-E Neck Cream 

Mario Badescu

RoC Multi Correxion Chest, Neck, and Face Cream 

Three ships firm believer smoothing neck and face cream .

Three Ships

Shop More Shape-Approved Picks

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