$5 fee kept Maine woman from graduating in 1939

CONCORD, N.H. -- A 99-year-old Maine woman is celebrating her graduation from college 75 years after a $5 fee kept her from getting her diploma on time.

Beal College in Bangor awarded Jessie White her degree during a special ceremony hosted by Alan Stehle, the college's president.

White told ABC News the special ceremony was wonderful and a lot of fun.

White was supposed to graduate in 1939, but couldn't afford the $5 transcript fee.

A friend who recently learned of her decades-old predicament called Stehle, who paid her balance and set up the ceremony.

White, a Maine native, received her degree in stenography and bookkeeping.

White suffered a disability from a polio infection, but ABC News reports she persisted until she landed a job and worked for years as a bookkeeper.

White said finally getting her degree made her feel "great."

"Never give up learning. They say when you give up learning you grow old," the news program quotes her as saying. "So I don't intend to give up learning."