Two women shared the same stage during the same graduation, one aged 21 and the other 95, both receiving a Fort Hays State University degree in the spring of 2007. The younger individual is Alexandra, while the elder is her grandmother, Nola.
The educational journey Nola was completing had commenced long before Alexandra’s parents were born. Nola Ochs began her first Fort Hays college course on April 19, 1930. Seventy-seven years later, she attained the bachelor’s degree that marked the end of her pursuit.
This represents a 77-year interval between the start and completion, raising a straightforward question: how does a course initiated during the Great Depression reach completion in the twenty-first century?
A course initiated in 1930, alongside everything that transpired afterward
The concise explanation is that life intervened throughout the years. Ochs initially enrolled at what is presently Fort Hays State, then a Kansas teachers’ college, in 1930. She worked in rural Kansas schools, married Vernon Ochs, and raised four sons. Her college education was set aside for decades as she managed a farm and family life.
Following her husband’s passing, she resumed her studies part-time. She began attending classes at Dodge City Community College after Vernon’s death. By the time she evaluated her progress, she was just 30 credit hours short of a bachelor’s degree. Thirty hours is near completion, yet it’s also the type of close that can remain unaddressed for years without external motivation.
What distinguishes Ochs is her decision in her nineties to take action.
The decision that made it concrete
Deciding to complete a degree is one thing, but Ochs took the steps that made it a reality: she relocated from her farm to a campus apartment at Fort Hays State to finish those final 30 hours. This wasn’t a correspondence workaround or an honorary gesture. At 95, she immersed herself in student life and completed the coursework.
According to her own words, her age barely registered once she was on campus. In an interview with CBS News, she stated simply: “When I came up here, of course, I knew I was old, but I didn’t focus on how old I was.” At the end of her experience, she summarized it similarly: “I was just another student.”
Two Ochs women, one graduation
What elevates this from mere curiosity to something more heartfelt is who walked alongside her. Her granddaughter Alexandra, then 21, graduated in the same 2007 ceremony. The two had shared the experience of being students on the same campus, which Alexandra found more delightful than peculiar. “I’m really happy to be able to do this with her,” Alexandra expressed.
At 95, Ochs earned the title of the world’s oldest college graduate, which was the part that captured media attention.
She continued her education
The focus shifts back to what occurred following this record achievement. She didn’t stop with the bachelor’s degree. Three years later, at 98, Ochs achieved a master’s degree in liberal studies and continued taking classes until she reached 100 before returning to the farm.
She passed away in 2016 at the age of 105.
A record serves as a snapshot, one moment, one entry in a book. The bachelor’s degree could be viewed as a woman finally completing an old journey, tying up something left unfinished since 1930. The master’s degree cannot be viewed this way. A master’s is not a prerequisite for completing a bachelor’s. She pursued it because she was still eager to learn, still enrolling, still showing up to class. The narrative often shared was that she finished. What she truly did was continue her education, and those two concepts are not equivalent.
Learning later in life is often condensed into an inspirational headline, typically concluding at the diploma. Ochs presents a rare scenario where the subsequent years post-diploma comprise the more significant part of the story. She spent a decade of her nineties as an active student, not because a class from 1930 loomed over her, but because she enjoyed being a student. The record indicates she finished as the oldest. The years following imply she never truly did.