Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

84-Year-Old Jewish Grandmother Finishes Her College Degree

(JTA) — Janet Fein, 84, practices what she preaches when she says “Never leave anything unfinished.”

The Jewish grandmother from Dallas will finally get her degree, in sociology, decades after going straight into the workforce from high school, the Texas Jewish Post reported. She will be among the graduates in the ceremony Wednesday at the University of Texas at Dallas.

According to the Jewish newspaper, Fein skipped several grades, graduating from high school at 16 in 1950. She worked for years as a secretary before earning an associate’s degree and going on to work for the Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas.

After retiring, she decided to pursue a degree.

“Because I was over 65, I got free tuition. I picked sociology because the study of people and society was a perfect match,” she was quoted as saying. “In my family, I’ve got a doctor, a speech therapist, a couple of artists, sales and marketing professionals, a nurse, a teacher and an engineer. I’m excited to join them in getting my degree. I’ve worked hard and as proud as I am of them, I’m proud of me too.”

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly. 

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at editorial@forward.com, subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.

Exit mobile version