For a few dozen select Tufts students, dreams of reliving college days are coming true.
The Tufts Resumed Education for Adult Learners (R.E.A.L.) program, implemented in 1970, is designed to allow adults who initially interrupted their education to return to school as full-time students and receive Tufts bachelor's degrees.
Unlike many adult programs that offer night classes or separate instruction, R.E.A.L. immerses its students fully into college life and provides them access to the same classes, facilities and extracurricular experiences offered to younger undergraduates.
R.E.A.L. students are automatically marked as sophomores and are placed according to credits they received during their initial undergraduate education.
Associate Dean Jean Herbert, the director of R.E.A.L., said that when the program was first introduced, it was aimed specifically at women.
"Several schools took a look around and saw women had interrupted their educations to either support their husbands' educations or raise a family," Herbert said. "They couldn't reach any further because they didn't have a bachelor's degree."
Joe Neal, president of the Returning Student Organization and a junior majoring in English, explained that R.E.A.L. can provide as much or as little of a genuine undergraduate experience as students wish.
"It varies from people being really involved to just coming here and taking classes," Neal said. "Everything is open to us, but it's open by choice so you have to take the initiative."
Neal made an unlikely transition from his position as the president of a construction firm to that of a college sophomore. Upon arriving at Tufts, he attended freshman orientation and the candle-lighting ceremony on the Hill, and he joined the Tufts Hybrid Racing Team.
Only 45 students are currently enrolled in R.E.A.L. "We like to keep it small, very individualized," Herbert said. Every applicant is personally interviewed by Herbert during the admissions process, via phone or in a face-to-face meeting.
The R.E.A.L. application process differs slightly from the traditional Tufts undergraduate application due to the different experiences adult applicants bring. "We need evidence that they can succeed at the college level," Herbert said. "We do have the personal interview and, of course, some different questions."
A key requirement of prospective R.E.A.L students is that they have relatively recent experience at the college level. For Neal, who had taken a nearly 15-year hiatus from college, refresher courses were advised before applying.
According to Herbert, R.E.A.L. students must be up for the academic challenge that Tufts presents. "The top-quality [candidate] needs to be someone who's highly motivated," Herbert said. "It takes a lot of sacrifice to do something like this."
And those accepted are certainly surpassing expectations. In general, officials said, R.E.A.L. students tend to perform better in class than typical undergraduates.
But while their grades show that R.E.A.L. students are up for the task, the social element of sitting in a class with 19-year-olds presents new challenges altogether.
Junior R.E.A.L. student Sashi Uhlmann, who is double majoring in community health and women's studies, said that she feels that Tufts students are very accepting of their R.E.A.L. counterparts. "After the first day of class, or the first couple of days, I think that Tufts students are great," Uhlmann said. "I never feel like I'm not part of the class. They're very welcoming."
"It's what you make of it," Neal said.
Many R.E.A.L. students also express that there are certain advantages of being older in a college setting. "We're paying for our own education, we choose our own classes, our own electives; we don't have that same parental pressure some might have," first-year R.E.A.L. student Krista Hennessey said.
Neal agreed that there are benefits to being in school at an older age. "I think the big difference from going to school now in my thirties as opposed to being 18 is that I'm not shy anymore," Neal said. "If I have an opinion, I speak up."
Herbert said that the concept of assimilating undergraduates of all ages seems to benefit older and younger students alike. "I'm in touch with faculty who value the adult presence in the classroom," Herbert said. "For example, in sociology classes, I remember one professor who was teaching a class on homelessness and one woman in the class had been homeless. The hands-on experience they bring to the classroom benefits Tufts ... It raises the level of discourse."
Because of the immersion method, R.E.A.L. students say they are getting the most out of their educational experiences. "When you go to other schools, you might get a diluted program," Uhlmann said. "When you do this program, you're getting a full degree from Tufts. It's not a diluted degree - it's a real degree."
