KALAMAZOO -- You might say Michael Nicholson has a passion for learning.

The 67-year-old Kalamazoo retiree has amassed 27 college degrees since 1963, and he's not done yet.

He started with a bachelor's degree in religious education at William Tyndale College in Detroit. That led to a master's degree in theology at Dallas Theological Seminary.

Since then, he has earned two associate's degrees, 19 master's degrees, three specialist's degrees and one doctoral degree.

He's currently pursuing two master's degrees at Grand Valley State University, one in health administration and the other in special-education administration.

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Nicholson has 10 master's degrees, a specialist's degree and a doctorate from Western Michigan University, which the registrar's office reported is the most degrees awarded to any one person in the school's history.

The Guinness Book of World Records does not include a category for most college degrees earned by one person.

"He's intrinsically motivated; he doesn't brag about what he's doing; he just keeps plodding ahead," Tom Carey, professor and chairman of the WMU management department, said of Nicholson.

Raised by a mother with a high school education and a father who had to drop out of school very young to work, Nicholson said he was taught to believe in the importance of education. Many of his degrees relate to teaching. He was a substitute teacher for about 16 years before retiring in 2003.

He and his wife, Sharon, have lived in Kalamazoo since 1980. He worked as a parking-meter attendant at WMU for 11 years and took advantage of the tuition discount to earn several of his master's degrees there.

"I enjoy learning as a means of independence," Nicholson said. "I have academic freedom; I can study or do whatever I want to do."

Although he's not an "A" student, he still is motivated to learn something new that is interesting and worthy of exploration.

"I decided to pursue it rather than let it go by," he said. "I just wanted to learn more about the things that were coming my way."

Sharon Nicholson has earned seven degrees. She said she was inspired by her husband, and she appreciates the tuition discount she receives as a 30-year employee of WMU.

"There were times when I just wanted to take classes, but he encouraged me to go on and get degrees," she said.

Michael Nicholson said he'll keep pursuing higher education as long as he can.

"I find that the intellectual stimulation and the acquaintances that I have at the intellectual level make it really worthwhile," he said.