perpetual student

{{Short description|College/university attendee who re-enrolls for several years more than necessary}}

{{pp-pc|small=yes}}

A perpetual student, gradual student, or career student is either a college or university attendee who either pursues multiple terminal degrees or re-enrolls for several years more than is necessary to obtain a given degree.

Holders of multiple academic degrees

class="wikitable"

|+

!Number of Earned Degrees

!Name

!Dates

!Notes

30{{Cite web |last=Miller |first=Korin |date=2016-09-14 |title=The Best College Advice From This Man Who's Been In School For FIFTY-FIVE Years |url=https://www.teenvogue.com/story/michael-nicholson-college-55-years-30-degrees-advice |access-date=2024-06-14 |website=Teen Vogue |language=en-US}}

|Michael Nicholson

|1941–present

|Part-time parking attendant whose degree list includes 22 master's degrees and one doctorate.{{Cite web |last=Holcomb |first=Anne |date=January 19, 2009 |title=Twenty-seven degrees and counting: Kalamazoo man enjoys the 'freedom' of intellectual pursuits |url=https://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/2009/01/twentyseven_degrees_and_counti.html |website=mlive}}

23{{Cite web |date=2023-03-31 |title=Robert McGee |url=https://www.csualumni.com/stay-connected/fascinating-alumni/robert-mcgee/ |access-date=2024-06-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230331090854/https://www.csualumni.com/stay-connected/fascinating-alumni/robert-mcgee/ |archive-date=2023-03-31 }}{{Cite web |last=Holland |first=Monica |title=Fayetteville's Robert McGee, 74, is world champion martial artist ... and novelist, doctoral degree holder, international consultant |url=https://www.fayobserver.com/story/sports/2021/08/23/fayettevilles-dr-robert-mcgee-wins-taekwondo-world-championships/8200363002/ |access-date=2024-07-12 |website=The Fayetteville Observer |language=en-US}}

|Robert W. McGee

|1947–present

|Holds 13 doctorates.{{Cite web |date=6 November 2019 |title=Alumni Spotlight - at 72, Robert W. McGee is just Getting Started |url=https://community.myunion.edu/alumni-spotlight-at-72-robert-w-mcgee-is-just-getting-started/}} Professor of Accounting at Fayetteville State University{{Cite web |title=Faculty & Staff |url=https://www.uncfsu.edu/academics/colleges-schools-and-departments/broadwell-college-of-business-and-economics/faculty-and-staff |access-date=2024-06-14 |website=www.uncfsu.edu |language=en}}

20{{Cite web |title=Meet India's most educated man, who had 20 degrees, cracked UPSC twice, quit IAS job due to... |url=https://www.dnaindia.com/education/report-meet-india-s-most-educated-man-who-had-20-degrees-cracked-upsc-twice-quit-ias-job-due-to-3086581 |access-date=2024-06-14 |website=DNA India |language=en}}

|Shrikant Jichkar

|1954–2004

|Indian civil servant

16{{Cite news |last=Bernstein |first=Joseph |date=2024-06-03 |title=The Man Who Couldn't Stop Going to College |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/03/magazine/benjamin-bolger-college-harvard-yale.html |access-date=2024-06-14 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}

|Benjamin Bolger

|1975–present

|Received an associate's from Muskegon Community College, his bachelor's from the University of Michigan, thirteen master's degrees and a Doctor of Design from Harvard University.{{Cite news |last=Bernstein |first=Joseph |date=2024-06-03 |title=The Man Who Couldn't Stop Going to College |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/03/magazine/benjamin-bolger-college-harvard-yale.html |access-date=2024-06-14 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}

15{{Cite web |title=King of university degrees is 70-year old Italian {{!}} Inquirer News |url=https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/872156/king-of-university-degrees-is-70-year-old-italian |access-date=2024-06-14 |website=newsinfo.inquirer.net|date=16 February 2017 }}

|Luciano Baietti

|1947–present

|Studied for degrees in physical education, law, literature, philosophy, sociology, criminology, and military strategy. In 2002, The Guinness Book of World Records officially recognized Baietti as the most graduated living person in the world.{{Cite web |date=2017-02-14 |title=King of university degrees is 70-year old Italian |url=https://sg.news.yahoo.com/king-university-degrees-70-old-italian-092141401.html |access-date=2024-06-14 |website=Yahoo News |language=en-SG}}

11{{Cite news |date=2012-05-02 |title=Lollipop man studies 12th degree |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-17929379 |access-date=2024-06-14 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}

|Bruce Berry

|1940–2014

|Took his first degree from Manchester University in 1963. Earned a number of master's degrees starting in the 1970s. He earned a Ph.D. from Leeds Metropolitan University. Died while completing a second Ph.D. Worked in technical document translation for Agfa-Gevaert, for the Post Office, and as a teacher, before working as a school crossing guard in retirement.

11{{Cite news |date=1989-11-01 |title=Lollipop man studies 12th degree |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-01-11-me-320-story.html|access-date=2025-01-08 |work=Los Angeles Times|language=en}}

|John Warwick Montgomery

|1931–2024

|Lawyer and Christian apologist

10

|Jacob Appel

|1973–present

|Holds both a Doctor of Medicine{{Cite web |title=Jacob Appel |url=https://scholars.mssm.edu/en/persons/jacob-appel |access-date=2024-06-14 |website=Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai |language=en}} and a Juris Doctor. Serves on the faculty of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City.

9{{Cite web |title=Rev. Robelyn Garcia |url=https://universityofsedona.com/rev-robelyn-garcia/ |access-date=2024-06-21 |website=University of Sedona |language=en-US}}

|Robelyn Garcia

|1965–present

|Former professional women's basketball player is currently an academic at Harvard University and Arizona State University.

8{{Cite web |title=About Me |url=https://jameshoward.us/about-me/ |access-date=2025-04-06 |website=James Howard |language=en-US}}

|James Howard

|1979–present

|Mathematician and public policy scholar

7{{Cite web |title=RCC Alumna Domaine Javier discusses her struggles and successes throughout her life |url=https://viewpointsonline.org/2021/03/rcc-alumna-domaine-javier-discusses-her-struggles-and-successes-throughout-her-life/ |access-date=2025-01-05 |website=Viewpoints}}

|Domaine Javier

|1992/1993–present

|Filipino actress

Long tenure to complete a single degree

{{see also|Progress toward degree}}

  • Milton De Jesús has been a student at the University of Puerto Rico since 1963. In 2010, De Jesús was interviewed by the newspaper, since he was the only student on the campus who could compare the 2010 student strikes and the 1970s, 80s, 90s, and 2005 strikes.El Nuevo Día year xxxx, vol14449 page 6- also at: https://www.elnuevodia.com/noticias/locales/nota/miltonvive-707559
  • Johnny Lechner attended the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater from 1994 until at least 2009.{{Cite web |date=2009-12-30 |title=A cap and gown for UW-Whitewater's perpetual student? - JSOnline |url=https://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/45315862.html/ |access-date=2024-06-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091230230226/https://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/45315862.html/ |archive-date=2009-12-30 }} He spent 13 years as a senior at the university.{{Cite web |last=Prizevoits |first=Antonijs |date=2009-08-02 |title=Fraternity House |url=https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/fraternity-house/umc.cmc.5m7sv3bffzttmvk7g08n9gfoz |access-date=2024-06-14 |website=Apple TV |language=en-US }}

References

{{Reflist}}

Further reading

  • {{Cite journal |last1=Kalamatianou |first1=Aglaia G. |last2=McClean |first2=Sally |date=2003-12-01 |title=The Perpetual Student: Modeling Duration of Undergraduate Studies Based on Lifetime-Type Educational Data |url=https://doi.org/10.1023/B:LIDA.0000012419.98989.d4 |journal=Lifetime Data Analysis |language=en |volume=9 |issue=4 |pages=311–330 |doi=10.1023/B:LIDA.0000012419.98989.d4 |issn=1572-9249 |pmid=15000407 |s2cid=22845288 |id={{ResearchGatePub|7142424}}. {{ProQuest|a21220a00f9f9af8bde08b4abae9c90f}}|url-access=subscription }}
  • {{Cite conference |last1=Kalamaras |first1=Dimitrios A. |last2=Kalamatianou |first2=Aglaia G. |title=Life Table Method for the Duration of Studies: Further Results |conference=14th Young Statisticians Meeting |id={{ResearchGatePub|322717479}}. {{Academia.edu|1942093}}. {{Academia.edu|7114670}}}}

Category:Academic slang

Category:Student culture

Category:Types of students