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eok - I'm sorry your educational experiences have not been productive. I love going to lectures and talking to the people there about the subject matter. Perhaps you would do better in a seminar type of instruction setting.
At 50 I went back to school and got my MBA and I still take an occasional class either for professional development or (gasp!) just because the subject matter interests me.
In my 40s I went back to college in pursuit of a degree in fine arts and absolutely loved this area of study which was so refreshing after spending so much of my life in the study of science and working in healthcare. Unfortunately this endeavor got to be very costly and I had to drop out, but hope in retirement to pick back up in at a institution that offers no fee/no credit fine arts courses for seniors.
Back in my mid 30s i thought of going back to school but i met a gal a bit younger than me and we got married, had kids and that kind of derailed that idea. Of course, she went back to school while i kept the bills paid and has since decided I am much too old and don't make enough $ for her.. go figure. Anyway, another story for another day.
My two friends are on opposite ends of the spectrum. The one that is going back for a nursing degree wants to change fields to make more money. The one that is going to Law school is actually retired already (Military officer).
The thought of going back to school is really not an option for me because I still have 3 kiddos yet to go to college so any extra cash i have will be spent on getting them higher educated.. Hopefully i will still be able to retire relatively soon afterwards.
My dad did this right at age 50. He was getting laid off from a factory and a local community college was offering a free software development program for a corporation that was relocating to the area. He went through the program, and while he did get a job, it was a lower paying job than he previously he had. He turns 58 in a month and is still there, although he did get a considerable raise that puts him back where he was before the factory layoff.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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I returned at age 50 (golden parachute at 49 included free college).
I really enjoyed it (weekend masters program)
But the profs and delivery was pretty poor compared to 30 yrs ago.
For the most part, financial gain is driving EDU to the pits.
Current students have a lot of 'stars' in their eyes, and very little to add to discussions. (They all want to be the next 'Facebook' / IPO that makes them an overnight sensation.). Current students are really pretty boring. They have grown up with their only social interaction being their phones and games. They have not had a lot of jobs, thus little work / experience, and even less desire / capacity to share information. (sorry about sounding biased... there are some terrific and intelligent younger people, (as well as a couple decent profs) but they are getting fewer and harder to find).
My grad degree, obtained at age 53, is a Master of Library Science.
My undergrad degree, obtained at age 42, was a BS in education.
Decades earlier, in my 20s, I obtained 22 undergrad credit hours in math and statistics.
At no time in any of my classes was I ever the oldest person in the classroom!
I think there are 2 trains of thoughts here: education for self improvement and education for a 2nd career. The opening poster is clearly talking about the later, you don't go to law school just to exercise your brain.
I had a co-worker who decided in his late 40's to go to school to get some sort of Human Resources certificate. He was told by the school recruiters people re-invent themselves in mid-career all the time. 3 years later he still didn't find a job because people who hire are looking for young people or those with experience in the field for obvious reasons.
I take a lot of free, non credit courses to keep current in the things I'm interested in on line at different MOOC's:
Coursera
Canvas Network
MIT Open Courseware
And the local college (George Mason U) has OLI, which is a low cost way.
I take what I what, keep learning new, interesting things, and it's low cost
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