Policy/Planning PhD programs for Older Students

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Hello,

 

I am looking for feedback on PhD programs in public policy/urban planning that are not adverse to accepting older students.   I completed my Master’s in public policy twenty years ago, and am at a point in my life where I can focus on things I enjoy (reading, writing, research).   I understand the reluctance of programs to take on older students and have no illusions that Universities will be knocking down my door with offers at the end of road, but this something I want to do.

 

I am in my mid 40s, have worked most of my career with health care data (first as an analyst, and more recently managing database systems), and spent the last 18 months in South Africa, mostly volunteering at a couple of schools to maintain their computer labs and teach basic computer skills to Zulu kids.  I took the GREs not that long ago and scored 168 verbal, 155 quant.  My sense is that I will have to get my quant scores up to be competitive based on conversations with a couple of different programs.  I am signed up to take online courses in Penn State’s Applied Statistics program this Summer refresh my quantitative training and get back into an academic  frame of mind.

 

Any general advice/recommendations appreciated, ditto for info on specific programs.  Thanks.