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This graduate, however, is 74 years old, and says it is never too late to accomplish a goal.

Last summer, Lucille Griswold, then 73, accepted her Bachelor of Arts degree in front of her children and grandchildren at a commencement ceremony in Vermont. As she crossed the stage in her white gown, her husband, William, handed her the diploma. It was the night before their 54th wedding anniversary.

‘‘He was able to hand me my degree — it was so fantastic,” she said.

That warm night in July, Griswold was the oldest graduate in the auditorium, and perhaps the proudest. She earned her degree the same year three of her granddaughters earned their bachelor’s degrees.

The three young women, two of whom are 23 years old and another of whom is 22, are pursuing advanced degrees. Griswold has 12 grandchildren.

‘‘I’m glad I lived long enough to do it,” she said of earning her degree, with a concentration in business and women’s studies. ‘‘I feel now I can go to my grave happy.”

To earn her diploma, Griswold did not sit in classes and lug around a backpack of heavy books like her granddaughters. Instead, she listened to lectures and submitted her assignments online through Union Institute & University’s Virtual Vermont program.

Union Institute & University, which is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, offers individualized programs of study both online and through six academic centers.

For most of her life, Griswold said, she focused on raising her four children, traveling with her husband, working for the federal government and taking a college course here and there when time permitted. That all changed in 2005 when a childhood friend told her about Union Institute & University’s flexible options.

‘‘I thought it was perfect,” she said.

Griswold, who is no stranger to writing, having published books of poetry and short stories, said the two years she spent earning her degree were intense.

‘‘It was tough, but I had a goal that I was going to complete it, by golly,” she said.

But through it all, she said her husband, children and grandchildren were ‘‘wonderfully supportive.” She added that she even made a new friend — a 23-year-old Olney woman who was also earning her degree through Virtual Vermont.

‘‘I have felt such a validation doing this,” she said. ‘‘It was hard, but if someone else my age wanted to do it, I would tell them to go for it 100 percent.”

Griswold said she is not sure what the future holds, but that she would love to pursue an advanced degree like her granddaughters.

Pam Boring, Griswold’s daughter who lives in Plainfield, Ill. , said she is proud of her mother.

‘‘She is such an inspiration to me, my siblings and her 12 grandchildren and never ceases to amaze us with the things that she does,” she said.