A mature student (aka adult student) in tertiary education (at a university or a college) is normally classified as an (undergraduate) student who is at least 21 years old (23 years old in Ireland) at the start of their course and usually having been away from school for at least two years. Mature students can also include students away from school for decades or students with no secondary education as situations allow. Mature students also make up graduate and post graduate populations merely by demographic of age. Students attend a lecture at a tertiary institution. ... Representation of a university class, 1350s. ... It has been suggested that this article be split into multiple articles accessible from a disambiguation page. ... In some educational systems, undergraduate education is post-secondary education up to the level of a Bachelors degree. ... Freshman and Sophomore redirect here. ... An academic major, major concentration, concentration, or simply major is a mainly U.S. term for a university students main field of specialisation during his or her bachelors degree studies. ...

Mature students are otherwise indistinguishable from younger students in that they study full-time, most-time, part-time, occasional, and at a distance (correspondence, Internet, or other remote means).

For example, most of the students at the Open University in the United Kingdom, where students can study part-time from home, are mature students wishing to gain a degree later in life, perhaps because the opportunity was not available to them when they left school. The Open University (OU) is the UKs open learning university. ... A degree is any of a wide range of status levels conferred by institutions of higher education, such as universities, normally as the result of successfully completing a program of study. ... Students in Rome, Italy. ...

The normal entry requirements for school-leavers wishing to start an undergraduate degree are often not applied to mature students. However, this varies by jurisdiction, and prospective students should consult the admissions office for verification on what is and is not required.

A good example of a mature student is the female protagonist, Rita, in Willy Russell's play, Educating Rita. As one of the early Open University students, she seeks to expand her knowledge of literature and the academic world, and in doing so broadens her own horizons and character. William Martin Russell (born 23 August 1947 in Whiston, Merseyside) is a British playwright, lyricist and composer. ... Educating Rita is a stage comedy by British playwright Willy Russell which premièred at The Warehouse, London, in 1980; and a film (1983) directed by Lewis Gilbert and starring Julie Walters, Michael Caine, and Maureen Lipman with a screenplay by Russell. ...

Mature student organizations around the world include:

Canada

York University Mature Students' Organization (YUMSO) Toronto, Ontario.