At 75, she earned her doctorate — after never starting high school

Deniece Rogers never began high school. She earned her GED in 1976 and spent her working life in a civil service job — while everybody on her mother's side of the family collected master's degrees. "I was the only one in my family who didn't have a bachelor's degree," she said. "I was determined that I was going to get an education. I had to do it because I have great nieces and nephews." So in her 50s she started community college, then DePaul University's program for adult learners: a bachelor's in 2012, a master's in 2015, and then — after health setbacks including stomach infections, back surgery, and mini-strokes that forced her to step back in 2019 — a Doctorate of Philosophy in Educational Leadership this June. Her dissertation studied how the underrepresentation of Black American contributions in K-12 curricula affects Black students' self-perception. She threw herself a party — wearing a gold necklace with the late musician Prince's symbol — because, she said, "that one, she felt." Her message to seniors: "You can get an education at any age."