WWII Vet Finally Earns College Degree At Age 97

A veteran who left college to serve in World War II has finally finished his education nearly 80 years later. Bill Gossett was a student at Lincoln College in Illinois before transferring to the University of Illinois, but he joined the U.S. Army Air Corps before he earned his degree.

After the war, he took over the family business and didn’t return to school, but he never stopped thinking about it. “Time went by and I finally decided to finish my degree,” Gossett says. “It was a goal of self-fulfillment.” So he reached out to officials at Lincoln College and President David Gerlach helped him re-enroll as a reverse transfer student with Prior Learning Assessment credits.

The 97-year-old completed his Associate of Arts degree in 2020, but because of COVID, he had to wait for the 2021 graduation ceremony. And Gerlach had a surprise for Gossett at graduation, he presented him with an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters.

Source: UPI


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