Living Well in Retirement
Seniors Teaching Fellow Seniors
Senior colleges allow you to teach in your area of expertise, and then sit back and take a class yourself.
By Elaine S. Povich, Contributing Writer, Kiplinger's Retirement Report
April 23, 2009
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EDITOR'S NOTE: This article was originally published in the February 2009 issue of Kiplinger's Retirement Report. To subscribe, click here.
Bill Guker spent 35 years in Asia, first as a CIA officer and later as a corporate executive. Today, Guker, 82, shares his knowledge of ancient and modern China with other older adults, as an instructor at the Senior Studies Institute in Portland, Ore.
Guker's students have signed up for four two-hour sessions. Guker doesn't get paid. And when he's not teaching, he becomes a student himself, attending classes offered by some of the 300 members of the institute, on subjects ranging from play reading to the history of whiskey in America.
"Everyone has their own interests, things they have done during their lives," says Guker. "We have people giving talks on every topic from A to Z. It's a very lively group." He belongs to the institute with his wife, Rachel.
The Portland group is one of 400 senior institutes, colleges and universities that have sprung up nationwide. They are designed for individuals 55 and older who want to pursue academic interests without attending community colleges or formal universities.
The senior-oriented institutions have different models, but they all rely on the same principle: seniors teaching seniors. The instructors teach classes in their areas of expertise. They also take classes from their students, who may have specialized knowledge of their own. No formal degrees are required to teach, and no formal degrees, academic credit or grades are awarded to students.
The schools fall into one of three categories. In the first, students pay an annual fee to belong to a learning group and can take as many courses as they want for free. The teachers generally come from the group but are not paid.
In the second category, students may pay a nominal fee to join and then a small amount for each course. Teachers generally are not paid, but occasionally get an honorarium. Many are affiliated with a local community college. The third type is usually associated with a university. Teachers are paid a small stipend, and students pay for each course.
At Portland's Senior Studies Institute, members pay an annual $30 fee, which covers as many courses as they want to take. The teachers don't get paid.
Billy Joe McFarland, a retired journalist and public relations executive, says the institute is affiliated with Portland Community College, which provides meeting space and publicity. But the college doesn't run the program. Members choose and teach the courses. McFarland says he tells college administrators that "we've probably got more PhDs in Senior Studies than you have on faculty. We run our own show, and we've got the brain power to do it."
McFarland conducts the current affairs class. Occasionally he will bring in a guest speaker. But the institute doesn't use professors from the community college.
Kali Lightfoot, executive director of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Southern Maine, says many seniors who pursue studies have been interested in learning since very early in life. "When people retire, they start thinking about taking classes," she says. "If you have had a college education, you are more inclined to take courses."
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