When he suddenly finds himself without his long-standing blue-collar job, Larry Crowne enrolls at his local college to start over. There, he becomes part of an eclectic community of students and develops a crush on his teacher. Now this simple guy will discover that when you think everything worth having has passed you by, you just might find your reason to live.

Love by degree: "When Ellen Cunningham decides to go back to school as a mature student, she knows that money is going to be tight. She also knows she's lucky to find inexpensive lodging in a house near campus, but she didn't count on having to live with three college-aged boys - or deal with the bad-tempered landlord, Reed Morgan. Reed has no patience for college-boy antics, but the chemistry between him and Ellen might warm him up to his new tenants..."...

Rita, a young working-class woman, desperately wants an education. She enrolls in literature tutorials at a British University to escape from her dreary life as a hairdresser as well as a confining existence at home. Her professor is Frank Bryant, a disillusioned English professor who encourages his students to forsake dead poetry and enjoy life. As Rita is transformed into a free spirit, Frank is forced to confront his own life.