It’s never too late to get a PhD even if you’re in your 60s

There is an increase in the number of PhD holders among senior citizens this year

Image courtesy of OUM

According to the Higher Education Ministry, the number of people aged 60 years old and above who have earned a Doctor of Philosophy has increased to 38% this year compared to 26% last year.

According to Tan Sri Dr Noorul Ainur Mohd Nur, the secretary-general of the Higher Education Ministry , said that a total of 44  senior citizens PhD students gained their doctorate this year. As many as 36 of them have graduated from public universities like Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM), Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Universiti Malaya (UM)and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM). While the remaining eight graduated from private universities like Open University Malaysia (OUM), Universiti Selangor (UNISEL), Malaysia University of Science and Technology (MUST), Limkokwing University and UniKL-Business School.

OUM is one of the most popular universities in Malaysia among senior citizens because of the generous discounts offered to people of a certain age group.

Students above 60 years old seem to prefer studying in the fields of art, social sciences, education, engineering and science.

This achievement comes in line with the Malaysian Education Development Plan 2015-2025 (Higher Education) focusing on the development of lifelong learning, said Noorul.