79-Year-Old Great-Grandmother of 13 Awarded Bachelor’s Degree

A 79-year-old great-grandmother of 13 graduated with a bachelor’s degree in computer science after she completed an online degree program.

Lucy Capers, 79, was awarded a Bachelor of Science in Computer Studies from the University of Maryland University College after she enrolled in the college’s online program five years ago, the Daily Mail reported.

Capers, who grew up poor in Alabama when the state was segregated and educational opportunities were limited, said she decided to pursue a higher education after she retired. She wanted to satisfy her thirst for knowledge and serve as a role model to her grandchildren.

“I always had a desire to know things,” Capers told WJLA, adding that she studied for herself and to inspire her family. “Maybe if I finish this will be more amazing to them. You know, and they would say, ‘If Grandma could do it, we could do it!'”

Capers settled in Maryland, where she married at the age of 18, worked for the federal government, and raised three children before she began college.

At first, she earned two associate’s degrees from Prince George’s Community College but then decided five years ago that she wanted to continue her education. She enrolled in the University of Maryland University College’s online program.

She is the second member of her family to graduate from college.

Capers is not the only member of her family to pursue a higher education later in life, however. Her sister, Linda Minger, graduated with a master’s degree when she was 49.

“Anyone can accomplish anything if they put the work into it. It doesn’t matter whether you do it in two years or 10, as long as you work towards it,” Minger said.

Several other senior citizens have received bachelor’s degrees late in life in 2017.

An 84-year-old woman from Connecticut graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Post University on May 13 after she enrolled in an online program at 80 years old.

Another senior citizen, an 88-year-old man from Georgia, graduated from Shorter University with a bachelor’s degree in Christian studies and a minor in liberal arts on May 5–58 years after he first enrolled at the college.