Jerry Reid will graduate from the University of Virginia this spring with a résumé that would attract the attention of any potential employer.

Under extracurricular activities, Mr. Reid lists membership in a campus literary society, brotherhood in a fraternity and two intramural flag-football championships. His academic accomplishments include a thesis reinterpreting Stonewall Jackson's legacy. He counts rooting for Virginia's men's basketball team as his primary hobby.

Then there is his work experience: 45 years as a conveyor-belt salesman.

Mr. Reid is a senior who happens to be a senior citizen. "I'm having a major attack of senioritis," said the 70-year-old undergraduate.

In 2011, at age 66, Mr. Reid enrolled in Virginia's college of continuing studies, its equivalent of night school for adult students. Mr. Reid, who had never graduated from college, was still chasing his bachelor's degree. Now, as a septuagenarian, he's on track to walk the lawn in May as a college graduate.