Man returns to school at NDSU to get his degree after leaving in 1971

FARGO, ND (KVRR) – No matter how old you are, you can always achieve new dreams. Just ask 73-year-old, Daryl Fellbaum, who went back to college for the first time in decades.

Fellbaum left the North Dakota State University in 1971 after work overtook his studies.

“It’s lucky that I have this opportunity,” said Fellbaum. “In those days I wasn’t smart enough to use my advisors as much. If I would have I might have graduated in a proper amount of time instead of now coming back. I guess it’s shocking. I never would have guessed I would have come back.”

This is through NDSU’s degree completion program. When Fellbaum left in 1971, he was a few credits short from finishing. The 73-year-old has been doing his courses online in Wyoming.

“Told me the type of courses that I would have to take to graduate,” said Fellbaum. “Got us familiar to do that on the internet. They’ve been very helpful. That’s the reason were going to be successful. Because of their help.”

This program was made during the COVID-19 pandemic, giving people who were close finishing their degrees a second chance to get over the last few hurdles.

“Is powerful to me. Of course to the university we want to provide that opportunity,” said Jessie Bauer, the assistant director for student success initiatives at NDSU. “We want to make it easier for people to come back and get a degree. They all set out with that goal in the beginning and so we want as a university to provide that opportunity for students.”

Fellbaum is set to graduate and walk the stage in December.

For more information on the degree program, click on this link: https://career-advising.ndsu.edu/degree-completion/