Michigan Man Has 29 College Degrees and Counting

But not 71-year-old Michael Nicholson of Kalamazoo, Mich. Nicholson has earned 29 degrees and is now pursuing his 30th.

Nicholson has one bachelor's degree, two associate's degrees, 22 master's degrees, three specialist degrees and one doctoral degree.

"It's stimulation to go to the class, look at the material that's required and meet the teacher and students. It makes life interesting for me," he said. "Otherwise, things would be pretty dull."

Good god! That's insane! I say good for him. How often do people find what truly makes them happy in life and pursues it until the end? How many of us deal with jobs we dislike day after day, just being miserable?EDIT: OOPS, forgot the link.ABC NEWS

That is truly amazing at most superhuman, but what good has come from this mans excessive education you would think he would be doing great things in the world by now

I'd say the good to come from it is, his enjoyment. He doesn't have to be curing aids to make it worth while.

Thanks OP it's a good post, great to know that some people actually enjoy what they do, I'd love to find something like that for myself.

reply to post by Revelations21


It's habitual behavior. Nothing less, nothing more.

Not saying this guy isn't doing the right thing, just saying class sizes are only so big. He's taking a chair from a younger person that might actually be on the path to a career.

I don't like it, seems greedy.

Also the article mentions he likes meeting the teachers and the other students, sounds really creepy to me.

Originally posted by MrSelfDestruct
I'd say the good to come from it is, his enjoyment. He doesn't have to be curing aids to make it worth while.

Thanks OP it's a good post, great to know that some people actually enjoy what they do, I'd love to find something like that for myself.

Exactly. What the world could be if we weren't tied down by financial obligations, and everyone could pursue what makes them happy.I also wanted to author a somewhat positive thread, since there is a lot of doom and gloom. Then again, sensational doom and gloom is what gets reaction from this community most of the time.I've sometimes wondered what others would do if they had the freedom to pursue what truly made them happy. For this guy, it's learning.

I wonder how he was able to support his education. He needs to work to earn money and usually work makes one lose focus on education. He must be a night class student which makes his feat more amazing. He basically has no other life aside from work and school all his life.

And what did he do with this knowledge? I think that was just another way of being a "hoarder", but not with animals or stuff this time but with degrees. He won't get a finer job with them, being over 70. He won't help humanity by just accumulating more knowledge like a walking library.

Every one with a degree has the obligation to further humanity. If the person fails at this, the degree should be removed (in a perfect world).

Any way, nothing too bad happened, so he may carry on.

70 years old with that many qualifications .... he's probably forgot more than some of us will ever know lol.

so nice to see its all being put to good use hanging on a wall in some old folks home or sheltered accommodation collecting dust.

And to find out about him on ATS lol.

I just don't see much negative with it. He's obligated to society how? As long as he's not hurting anyone he should be allowed to do what makes him happy. Sure you could argue he took a seat from a younger person, but that's really based on conjecture. Prove this man actually took a seat from someone who wanted to go to college.Is a totalitarian society what we want? If this is the case then everyone should be required to attain a degree and use it for the betterment of society, regardless of their own passions for life. Also, we'll put limits on how many we can attain, lets say two (we don't want to take seats from others since everyone is required to have one now). Now what kind of punishments should we enforce on those who don't gain a degree in the allotted time frame? How about slave labor? Besides, they're useless to society anyway.You see where it ends up? Where do these controlling ideals end?

It's great that anyone wants to be a lifelong learner but how good of an education has he received if he can't even use a computer?:

"I cannot function on a computer, so she has to do it."

- speaking about his wife, who I suppose has supported him his entire adult life so he could continue schooling:

"I just stayed in school and took menial jobs to pay for the education and just made a point of getting more degrees and eventually I retired so that I could go full-time to school," Nicholson told ABCNews.com.

He's done nothing but menial work like handing out parking tickets. Shouldn't education serve some function? He's has a wall full of degrees he can look at and that is the only use he has for them?

I disagree strongly with the notion that one must go to school to learn and that is a major reason I spend as much time on ATS as I do. One can learn anything they desire without going to an accredited institution for it, especially with all the information available on the web. Libraries are still great resources to acquire knowledge though sadly they seem to be waning in support from the public.

While it can be an asset to have a teacher one does not of necessity have to go to a school to find one. I've discovered that people who are competent in their chosen fields usually enjoy sharing that knowledge with anyone who has a true desire to learn the same.

Overall, I would to say that this story seems to be nothing but advertising for institutions of higher learning.

Maybe I missed this....but does he have a JOB?
or...can he FIND a job?

Education can be a fun thing, its about learning and understanding the world around you, but of course, most people do it for money and wealth.


71 yr old... hmm i wonder how many degrees he got it before the 1970s, i wouldn't "count" them unless he re certify them again.

reply to post by luciddream


I have a brother in law who is a Professor at a large Midwestern University with 2 Phd"S.

Dumb as a brick....

I just don't see how he paid for all of this, with just menial jobs...

Something's not right here...

And he can't work a computer? Really? I find that nearly impossible given today's college requirements (which for me, included two different technology courses, for a business degree).

reply to post by Gazrok


He has a wife to support him.
it's called the ATA program.
Would you like to find out more?

Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools Romans 1: 22

Do not deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a "fool" so that he may become wise. 1 Corinthians 3:18


The guy might have tons of degrees but unless he's unlocked his mind and is thinking outside the box then he's still just a slave of the system.