Indian American single mom Neha Gupta earns a master’s at 46

After a 20-year break, Gupta achieves a milestone she once thought was out of reach

By Arun Kumar

After a 20-year break from college, going through a marital separation and facing financial instability, Neha Gupta has earned a master’s degree in business analytics at 46 – a milestone she once thought was out of reach.

Gupta, who is originally from India, hopes to remain connected to her alma mater University of Arizona as a lecturer, while also growing community-based initiatives to help others improve their skills and pursue their passions, according to her story on the university website.

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Outside of the classroom, Gupta is the co-founder of Playfection, a U.S.-based organization that helps design and renovate family entertainment centers such as arcades, indoor trampoline parks and laser tag arenas so that guests of all ages have an enjoyable experience.

“These places may be called family entertainment centers, but they aren’t,” Gupta said. “When I take my two daughters somewhere, they may be happy but I almost never am. Playfection designs spaces where a toddler can explore and a grandparent in a wheelchair can feel included, not just present. That is what family entertainment should be.”

Gupta is also developing Naked Eye, an AI-powered, headset-free augmented and virtual reality platform that uses a combination of screens, projection mapping and other technology to transform ordinary rooms into adaptive, immersive environments.

“Imagine walking into a room: You open the door, and suddenly you’re on a beach,” Gupta said. “The platform is powered by AI and creates a spatial illusion so that even in a 500-square-foot room, it feels like you’re walking along an endless beach. It stimulates all five senses to make the experience truly immersive.”

Gupta is also writing a memoir, “Ashes to Armor,” detailing her struggles on the road to independence and success.

When Gupta decided to go back to school as a newly single mother supporting two teenage daughters, it required a great deal of courage. When her oldest daughter, Dhaani, was accepted to the University of California San Diego, Gupta began to reflect not only on her children’s futures but her own.

Gupta already held a master’s degree in journalism and ran her own business in India. But she realized the market was evolving faster than she could keep up.

“I still had a business, and I was earning money, but I realized it could use an upgrade,” Gupta said. “I didn’t know what was going on in the greater market, and when you hear about things like AI and data mining, you don’t really know what to make of that. I knew I needed to improve myself and started looking for courses.”

Gupta decided to enroll in the Eller College of Management after discovering its business analytics graduate degree.

“Everything involves data now,” Gupta said. “No matter your job, data has an important role to play because you need to understand and explain what is going on with your business. Business analysts study client and competitor data, product information – whatever information helps you run a business – and use the latest tools and techniques to take that organization to the next level. That might be a customer’s coffee habits or where they shop for supplies. Data comes with its own story, and you need to be able to understand and tell that story.”

Despite the stress of financial strain, academic pressure and parenthood, Gupta excelled. However, she said the greatest reward came not from grades but from her daughters.

“We have gone through so much over the past two years, and they saw me suffering,” Gupta said. “When I started my coursework and saw how much hard work was involved, I was worried. But I wanted to do this, and I even made the dean’s list. Those are the kind of achievements that my daughters are proud of. Recently, my eldest daughter told a college interviewer that her mom is her idol. I never thought she would say that.”