Taking a 13-Year Detour, East Texas A&M Alum Reflects on a Different Path to Success
College was unfinished business for alumna Tiffany Norman.
More than a decade after leaving school, building a career, and raising a family, East Texas A&M University graduate Tiffany Norman recently earned the degree she once thought might never happen.
Her story reflects a growing reality for working adults across Texas and the country. Through East Texas A&M University’s online Competency-Based Education (CBE) program, adults are returning to school years—and sometimes decades—later. While college is often seen as a straight path from high school to graduation, many students are earning degrees later in life, after building careers, raising families, serving in the military, and managing responsibilities that don't fit a traditional college experience.
For Norman, the journey began after high school, when she enrolled in college but quickly realized she wasn’t ready. She left school, moved to Austin, completed a culinary program, and eventually returned to community college, where she said school finally clicked.
Then life changed again. Just as she was preparing to transfer to a university, she learned she was pregnant, and college would have to wait.
Over the next 13 years, Norman built a career, moving from administrative roles into operations and eventually managing teams in corporate food services. But one goal remained unfinished.
“I had built my career on ability, but I wanted to do something more with it,” she told graduates. “I knew I couldn’t keep ignoring the degree, even if it was a goal I had set 20 years ago.”
When she discovered East Texas A&M’s online CBE program, she saw a path that fit the realities of adult life and her desire for more purposeful work. This spring, she earned a Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences (BAAS) in Public Administration, City Planning.
Initially, she balanced coursework with a full-time career. Later, as a stay-at-home parent, she studied wherever she could—at her children’s practices and games, during lunch breaks, while waiting at appointments, and after dinner at the end of the day.
“I’m so thankful for this program,” Norman said. “It made finishing possible for people like me.”
Her experience reflects a broader trend among adult learners who return to school years—and sometimes decades—later. Many are not starting over. They are building on careers, life experience, and skills they have developed along the way.
Since launching its competency-based programs, East Texas A&M has attracted working adults from across Texas and beyond. Offering undergraduate and graduate degrees in fields such as public safety, education, healthcare, organizational leadership, and public administration, the programs combine the rigor and credibility of a Texas A&M degree with the flexibility and affordability working adults need to keep moving forward.
“They’re not looking to start over,” said Dr. April Sanders, dean of the College of Innovation and Design. “They’re looking for a way to move forward.”
For Norman, earning her degree represented more than completing a long-delayed educational goal.
It was proof that success doesn’t always follow a straight line.
“If your path looked different, or took longer, or didn’t make sense to anyone else at the time, that doesn’t mean it was wrong. It just means it was yours,” she said.