I'd think a lifetime of experience would be a benefit.

What'd you do in the past? I just started classes for Engineering part time, my bosses boss said my experience as a machinist with an engineering degree would make me desirable.

I'll probably never finish it because the local engineering school requires a 3.8 to get in and I'm well under that from previous schooling. Just something to think about. I could go an hour and a east or west and get in fine but I'm stuck where I'm at with a state worker for a wife.

I’ve thought about adding an AS in EE to my existing degree but life has gotten in the way.

Some folks say it would open doors, some folks say it would just be a distraction.

I got hired at 58 as a design engineer.  I wasnt hired because of the degree, but because of 40 years of work history.

History is important, what do you do now and how will a degree "help" that experience?

I agree that in this market experience is worth more that education (in most cases).

I think this is key. Would your work history complement an engineering degree in the discipline youre thinking about?  Would it make your more marketable, or do you just want to do something different?  Im in a similar situation retiring from the mil after 20 yrs, with my most recent and marketable skill as industrial maintenance management.  Still waffling over whether to get a degree or just jump into the trades or defense contractor.  In the current job market, Im getting a lot of feedback that personal reliability and work ethic are severely lacking.  So while during the FBHO years older workers were definitely at a disadvantage, now it is changing so it seems like if you show up to work on time sober you're ahead of the game.

Unless your work experience is related in some way you will start at the 'new grad' engineering rate.

In EE it is still pretty good for a BSEE from an ABET accredited program.

Good luck.
If you have not learned and used calculus previously a CC advanced algebra course or two might be a decent idea.

BSEE math is four years of college math.

Years ago when I earned my BSEE only about the first year and a half was taught by the math department.

After that it moved to the engineering department, and sometimes the EE department.

Laplace transforms are your friends.

At least with computers we can approximate just about any equation, differential equations, and a lot of other things now.
Everyone used to have multiple CRC volumes to look them up.

Get haired as a newly minted starting position engineer.  Maybe.  Definitely won't be making what a seasoned engineer of you age group would make.

My work just hired a guy that's about 60 as a computer programmer.  He has no experience, just a 4 month certificate.  He maked 60k+.  Go for the degree and see what happens.

Shit!  Where your work?

If they ever run me off from my IT(system administrator) gig I may do something like that!

I work with a couple guys who got tired of their old jobs and got engineering degrees.  They got hired as entry level engineers due to lack of experience.  They like it a lot more than their old jobs.

Even starting EE pay is very good.

I have seen some recently in the low $70k range.

Went to college at age 30 for environmental eng degree.  Started at community college with high school algebra, English for furriners and working full time. Getting educated at older age is tough, and electrical is the hardest and best paying.  Most  the students quickly discovered that working while 3rd and 4th year full time engineering student was extremely hard to do, and very rare. Even tougher if off campus, as most of courses were set up to work in groups.

I was hired at age 35, mainly because of age, background and maturity. And they couldn't sucker anyone in state to apply. Have since retired, but not regretted decision.

I'm late to the party here, but...yes.  I went back to school in my 30's and graduated BSEE/BSCE (ee/computer engineering) at 38 years old.  Got hired immediately.  As others have said, if you have some background in your industry you might start at a more advanced level.  I did.

It doesn't necessarily have to be a technical background, although that is better.  Let's say you worked on the Ford assembly line for twenty years and you hate it so go back to school.  But, even as a production worker you already know a lot about the automotive assembly business so that is a plus for Ford if they hire you as an EE or ME.

If you were decent at high school math, buy some books or AP test books, something, and do a refresher yourself so you can go straight into calculus (I'm assuming you haven't had any).  Otherwise you'll waste a year doing HS refresher math at university.

You don't say how old you are.

ETA: I didn't realize this thread was a year old.  Things move slowly over here.  Sorry.

Get on Kahn academy now and start refreshing your math. I was able to test out of college algebra because of it. Definitely will help speed up the degree process.

As someone who once was involved in recruiting, assessing, selecting, and hiring people with advanced degrees and hiring,
I would say it depends.

There were some key experiences and backgrounds could get before undergrad, or after undergrad and before the advanced degrees, that were highly sought after and made the candidate highly desirable in comparison.

Other backgrounds maybe not.

Your age and background might also make you click with someone that’s a decision maker.

You can use that to your advantage.

Did you do any internships while in school?

How old and how is the degree being paid for?

After I was totally wiped out in my second divorce, I went to college for an EE degree at 35yrs old.
Calc was tough as I hadn't mathed like that in 18years.
I was broke, so it was student loans for me.
Wasn't working so took the max amounts.
4.5 years later, $55k debt, had a bachelor of science in electrical engineering from an abet accredited school. May of 2012.

I know make $109k!
Prior to divorce I was accustomed to a $25k yearly salary.
Retirement plan, getting refunded, child support ends next month...
Never a late bill or any of the worries I use to have.

Can it be done and is it worth it?
For me, yes.
But it depends on your situation and a degree alone is not a job guarantee.

I saw something similar several times in this thread... can't help but wonder, is that just something for older people returning to college? I went to engineering school straight out of HS and we were assumed to have already known all the algebra we would need. We went straight into calculus; but if you passed the AP Calc Exam (I had) you went straight to Calc 102 or whatever it was called, bypassing Calc 101.

It's a huge help for us guys that haven't thought about math in years for sure. Kahn academy starts off as a kindergarten level, how to count, all the way to a little beyond calc 3 stuff. Lots of other subjects too, like electrical engineering. Nowadays I get more out of random YouTube channels that a little more closely mirror my courses and get to the point alot faster than Sal does. You'd be surprised how much more you can learn from different teaching styles on YouTube.

I have hired software interns in their 30s.  It only matters if you know your stuff.  Dont expect to get credit for previous experience in other industries though.  New grad rates will apply to you too.

i have done a large range of unskilled jobs over the years and do a fair bit of fabrication in my spare time. I am looking to head to the US to study machining which is the trade I always wanted to do since I was about 4-5. At that age when i should have been reading cat in the hat I was pinching my grandfathers engineering text books (he was a self taught engineer who was often asked for advice by a number of the local qualified engineers) and trying to read those and pestering my grandfather constantly on words i did not understand. I turn 46 this year and since i entered the work force there have been no machining courses to help you get an apprenticeship as there was when my dad left school. Many of the engineering places barely do any machining  here anymore so it is a hard field to get into. My aim after machining is to get into gunsmithing.

Hiring older entry level professionals is a mixed bag.

The guy that was a warrant officer helicopter pilot for ten years before burning up a hand that just got his Mech Eng degree from a good school applying to a place outfitting service and departmental rotary wing would be a fantastic hire.

They guy that was a paramedic for 20 years then went to the shittiest average gpa/mcat physician school and the shittiest reputation residency may not be a good choice for a high volume, high acuity serious medical facility.

If you had spent 20 years enlisted as a commo guy with your last 12 years in a commo SMU then did your GI bill and you are a 42 year old with a new BSEE a company  doing high end, cutting edge, secure product development would find you highly attractive.

If you had spent 20 years as a lame Air Force Med Tech at clinics, and knocked out an internet tuition assistance MBA in health care administration with no serious hard to pass courses, you are not in the running for any serious, fast lane looks.

In general,
how bad ass and how hard was your previous experience,
how applicable is it to your new prospect,
and how reputable is your new entry level professional qualification.

Maybe col is really low in KY, but 60k is about half new hire rate for those with CS degrees. Just as a point of reference.

what is the average comp sci B.S. degree starting salary in various states?

It's a government job.  It's 60k salary, he also gets an easy $20+ an hour's worth of benefits on top of that.

I have a similair position to his, 10 years experience, make about 80k.

In KY, cost of living is lower, and in my area, computer science grads start our making about 70k.

Make sure you can use a computer competently. We've had several older guys get hired for medium level engineering jobs and it is a constant struggle for them to use the drafting software, PDM software, basic windows issues, and they've both cryptolockered the network opening emails that they shouldn't have. They are fine engineers otherwise.

There are multiple levels of AP calculus.
Year ago there was an AB Calculus exam and a BC Calculus exam.
The school I went to had years divided into three 10 week 'quarters' per year (as opposed to the more common two semester per year).
An AP 5 on the AB test would get you out of Calc 101 and 102.
An AP 5 on the BC test placed you out of Calc 101, 102, and 103.
You started at 201.

Calc 101 and102 had math department professors.
Calc 103 was taught out of the College of Engineering.
Freshman Calc was a 5 hour course. Class 5 days a week.

It was all very intensive and intended to weed out around 2/3 of the Freshmen Engineering students.

The answer is ‘it depends’ as other have observed. It depends on your past work history. And your age. If your 60 and your experience is driving a truck you probably have a rough path ahead of you.  If you’ve been selling cars and your in your 40’s you may be able to find a niche selling tech equipment. If you’ve spent the last 20 years as an electronics tech and you come out of school with an electronics degree? That’s gonna look pretty good on a resume.  Surely enough to get you some serious interviews.

More info on your work experience might get you more useful answers.

No.

Yes.  I am most used to the semester system.
One kid in college got credit for the first semester of college for AP AB calc.
Another got credit for the first two semesters/year of calc for AP BC calc.

It worked out for their friends that way as well.
Five different colleges in total.

I had alot of older people in my engineering classes (Mechanical, Manufacturing and Electrical) and I know a few got jobs. Personally I know of someone in their 40s and one in their 50s and they both got jobs right after graduating.

Side note, those older members helped me and other younger members during projects and studying because they bring their real experience and help see the real side of these textbook problems.

As a former hiring manager, Sr Staff member, etc. Not sure that i would recommend that path.  You have a wealth of experience and would be better off with an industry specific subject matter expert than a BS.  This could be in one of the disciplines you mentioned.

You also should consider a part of the industry that has lower stress even if its lower pay or responsibly.

Would you put more value in a guy in his 40s or a 22 year old that's only ever known high school and college dorms when competing for the same entry level job?

Why wouldn't you recommend engineering for a older guy? I'm passing the midway point in my degree right now and can confidently say that I didn't have the maturity or respect for an education when I was younger, there's no way I would have done as well as I'm doing now 15 years ago.

Didn't read the whole post...
OP.

I went to college at 35 for electrical engineering Degree.

The only thing that matters about the school is , is it ABET Accredited for Electrical Engineering?

Now, to the question...I graduated at 40.
That was my start into the 'professional corporate' world.
Prior to that, 1997-2007 I ran my fathers construction company...
Prior to that...1991-1997 (high school graduation '91) I was an auto mechanic and ran the shop the last 2 years I was there.

so yes...those invaluable experieces put me way above many other candidates in-spite of my age and lack of 'engineering' back ground when I entered the fields.
Yep, at 40 I was starting the bottom of the engineering ladder, which was still triple the spot I was in.
The previous experience has allowed me to be promoted faster, be taken more seriously by management (since I am closer to their age than a college grad typically is), bring perspective that some of the management has forgotten, and not be afraid.

Why did I do this?
Went thru 2nd divorce in 2005.
2nd time starting over with nothing (it sucks)
Construction was stalled out...and I knew state of michigan would destroy the company if I took over with child support (4 kids).

so....I am broke.
No work...
Retirement wiped out...again...

Fuck it...I'll go be an engineer.
Get the Loans...yep
Treat classes like a job...check.
4.5 years and $63k debt later and...I have a degree...
Is it worth it?

Yep.
So its been 8 years since I graduated college (until Covid 19) 100k in 401k, salary is 100k, my last child just turned 18...child support is done...and have about 25k left on school loans.
Career is only going up right now...Same girlfriend since 2006...
I wouldn't trade my choice at all.


You have to do the math to see if it is financially worth the cost.
For me it certainly was.

EE degrees tend to pay rather well.

I was earning more than any of the professors that taught me four years after getting my BSEE.

I then had advanced degrees paid for by my employer.