Nola Ochs

Nola Ochs (née Hill) (November 22, 1911 – December 9, 2016) was an American woman, from Jetmore, Kansas, who in 2007, at age 95, graduated from college and was certified by Guinness World Records as the oldest person in the world to become a college graduate, until Shigemi Hirata in 2016.

Personal life A native of Jetmore, Kansas, Ochs was born in 1911 and took her first college class from Fort Hays State University in 1930, when the university was called the Kansas State College. Nola and her husband Vernon Ochs raised four sons (who have given her 13 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren) on the family farm. and another, Marion J. Ochs, died on March 15, 2016, at the age of 72.

World record On May 14, 2007, Ochs became a Guinness World Record holder as the world's oldest college graduate when she received her diploma at Fort Hays State University (FHSU) in Hays, Kansas. She earned a general studies degree with an emphasis in history, graduating alongside her granddaughter, Alexandra Ochs, who was 21 years old at the time.

Media appearances Among her accomplishments, Ochs was named the 2007 Kansas Woman Leader of the Year and was given her diploma by Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius. Features on Ochs aired on The Early Show, MSNBC, and CBS News among others. She even earned a spot on The Tonight Show one week after she graduated, sharing a laugh with Jay Leno. After graduation, Princess Cruises hired her as a guest lecturer on a nine-day Caribbean cruise. Ochs died on December 9, 2016, at the age of 105.