Going Back to School at 60? The Lifelong Learning Secret for Retirees
Educational opportunities for older adults are plentiful, and the payoff — in terms of enrichment, health, and community — is great.
Going back to live on a college campus, taking classes, and mixing and mingling with students young enough to be their grandchildren wasn’t originally on Anna and Jeffry Young’s retirement bingo card. Yet that’s their life these days.
The Youngs’ grand plan when they stopped working several years ago had been to eventually move to a life-plan retirement community near their home in Monte Sereno, California; the couple had even put money down to hold spots on waiting lists at two places. Then, while on a 2024 vacation in Arizona, Jeffry, 78, a retired hospital chief of nephrology, and Anna, 74, a former operating-room nurse supervisor, decided to take a tour of Mirabella, an upscale retirement community on the campus of Arizona State University in Tempe.
It offered the amenities and continuum of health care options they’d been looking for, along with the benefits of being an ASU student — full access to classes, clubs, facilities and academic, sporting and cultural events, all at their doorstep.
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They were immediately hooked. "We just couldn’t walk away from this," Anna says. "It felt like the retirement we wanted and needed."
The Youngs moved into a two-bedroom, two-bath apartment at Mirabella last May and have been on an academic tear ever since. Between the two of them, they’ve taken classes on the Constitution, health care economics, and the future of technology. They play in weekly intergenerational bridge games, and they have joined or helped start bird-watching, foreign-policy-discussion and many other special-interest groups. They enjoy concerts by student musicians who live and work at Mirabella, and Jeffry attends an ethics coffee hour with students and other residents.
"It makes you feel like you’re a kid in an academic candy store here," says Jeffry. Adds Anna, "Moving here in retirement has been quite a gift we’ve given ourselves."
Whether it’s taking advantage of the many academic courses that welcome seniors on college campuses, enrolling in a program that helps older adults navigate the transition to retirement and redefine purpose in their post-career years, or choosing to live in a retirement community affiliated with a university, the opportunities for people 50 and older to pursue lifelong learning are abundant.
And the demand, experts say, has never been greater as recent increases in life spans lead to a re-definition for many people of what a satisfying retirement is all about.
"With people living longer than ever, looking at possibly a 90- to 100-year life, longevity is forcing us to see that work-centric learning, focused around employability, is incomplete," says Simon Chan, founder and CEO of Adapt with Intent, a consulting firm that helps organizations identify opportunities for innovation and growth at the intersection of longevity, work, higher education and retirement. "There’s also great value in learning centered around enrichment, identity, purpose and social connection."
"Lifelong learning means that you’re curious and open to new experiences, premised on the idea that learning is a personal journey that makes your life more meaningful," says Chip Conley, cofounder and executive chairman of the Modern Elder Academy, which runs workshops and online courses to help people navigate midlife transitions.
Plus, there are other tangible benefits, Conley notes. "Learning to become a beginner again, whatever the topic, is positively correlated with longevity and improved health — something we should be pursuing our whole lifetime," he says.
Here is a closer look at the payoffs of lifetime learning and the programs specifically designed for or likely to be of interest to older adults.
Why lifelong learning matters
Learning new things has long been touted as a way to stem cognitive decline — the gradual decrease in memory, judgment, and other mental skills that often happens as we age. And research supports that those brain-function benefits are real.
In one study, for instance, older adults ranging in age from 58 to 86 (average age: 72) signed up for three to five classes over 10-12 weeks, the equivalent of a college semester, with instructions to choose courses (options included Spanish, music composition and photography) based on how little they knew about the topic so the learning curve would be challenging.
After six weeks, the participants’ cognitive skills, measured by a standardized test, had improved to be on par with those of people 30 years younger. And their brain function continued to get sharper until, at the one-year mark, well after the experiment had concluded, the participants’ cognitive abilities were similar to those of college undergraduates — a 50-year improvement, on average, compared with their scores before the classes began.
It’s not yet clear how long the cognitive improvement will last, and most older students won’t take that many challenging classes at once. Still, the results are promising. "It was so inspiring to see how much of an improvement in cognitive abilities there was in this study," says Rachel Wu, an associate professor of psychology at the University of California-Riverside and head of its Cognitive Agility Across the Lifespan lab (CALLA), which conducted this and similar studies.
An even more important benefit of ongoing education when you’re older, says Wu, is simply that it helps you get comfortable with learning again, given how rapidly the world and personal circumstances can change and the importance of being able to adapt.
For example, she says, during the pandemic, many people had to learn how to bank online and access telehealth to keep their financial and medical affairs in order. If you’re buying a new car for the first time in 20 years, you’ll need to master how to start the engine without a key and other digital controls. There are constant updates to smartphones, and knowing how to navigate artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming integral to daily life.
"Learning new things is not something you can avoid if you want to stay independent," says Wu. "If something happens that you have to adapt to and it’s the thirtieth thing you’re learning in the past five years, you’ll be great; if it’s the first thing you’re learning in 20 years, maybe not so much."
Perhaps the greatest benefit, says Wu, "We found learning gave our older participants a sense of empowerment, the feeling that they are in control of their own lives."
Taking classes that enrich your life
Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to access educational opportunities, with hundreds of programs across the country designed specifically with older adult learners in mind.
Have a hankering, for instance, to take a college class or two, without the stress of homework, exams and grades? Most states make it relatively easy — and inexpensive — to audit courses at community colleges and public universities by offering free tuition or deep discounts to older learners, usually on a space-available basis. Typically, you need to be at least 60 or 65 to participate, and you’re on your own for the cost of books, other course materials, and registration fees. (Find a list of the different rules by state here.
There are also more than 400 college-affiliated Lifelong Learning Institutes nationwide that offer courses and activities primarily designed for people 50 and older. These include 124 membership organizations in the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute Network, known as OLLIs for short, which offer noncredit courses, activities and lectures on topics ranging from history and science to art and current events, with a goal of intellectual stimulation and social connection without grades or tests.
Each OLLI sets its own rules, courses, schedules and pricing. Some may charge a single all-inclusive membership fee that covers classes and activities, while others may charge separately for membership, then on an à-la-carte basis for individual offerings. Total annual costs range from $60 to about $1,000, says Steve Thaxton, executive director of the National Resource Center for Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes at Northwestern University.
History is by far the most popular subject area, says Thaxton — not just traditional courses such as ancient or early American history, but also more offbeat topics such as the history of punk rock, baseball or the local community. "These people have often lived that history — served in that war or worked in that administration — and can share that knowledge with other students, which makes for a very different classroom experience," says Thaxton.
Members also often make connections beyond the classroom, creating special-interest groups, such as the science book group, the hikers, the travelers or the dinner-out group.
"The secret sauce is building community," Thaxton says. "You get the cognitive benefits that come with academic and intellectual exploration. But it’s as much about developing a friend group where you can talk about what you’re learning and enjoy it."
Help navigating life's transitions
With the advent of longer life spans, the definition of retirement is changing for many people. While pre-retirees and retirees typically describe this period in their parents’ lives as a time for rest and relaxation, just 27% of them view their own retirement this way, according to a joint study by the financial services firm Edward Jones and the consulting firm Age Wave. The majority, some 55%, instead view it as "a new chapter in life."
The big question, of course: What will that next chapter be?
To provide answers, a new educational category is emerging: the midlife transition program, which aims to help people find purpose and direction in the second half of life. Most, but not all, are university-based. And while the programs vary widely in structure, length and cost, the common thread is a focus on personal growth, introspection and exploration that leads to a plan for moving forward, to help determine how you want to spend your time and the impact you hope to have.
"People know what they’re retiring from but not necessarily what they’re retiring to," says Chan, of Adapt with Intent. "These programs provide a bit of structure and scaffolding to help people with this transitional period, which right now is largely a do-it-yourself adventure."
Who attends? "The programs largely appeal to people who don’t necessarily want to spend all their time in retirement golfing, resting, relaxing and hanging with the grandkids, not that there’s anything wrong with that," Chan says. "But the programs tend to draw people who are looking to stay engaged and thinking about how they can still make a contribution."
"Gaining knowledge and intellectual stimulation are important parts of these programs, but so are the community and friendships formed," says Marc Freedman, founder and co-CEO of Cogenerate, a nonprofit focused on impactful intergenerational collaboration, and the founding faculty director of Yale’s midlife transition program, the Experienced Leaders Initiative (ELI), where he currently chairs the advisory board.
The shared bond: "People come in with two questions. One is, What am I going to do next? The other, which may not be articulated but is also key, is, Who am I going to be next?"
The earliest iterations of the mid-life transition model: year-long residential programs pioneered more than a decade ago by Harvard University’s Advanced Leadership Initiative and Stanford’s Distinguished Careers Institute. As well as a hefty time-and-location commitment, the programs also come with a hefty price tag — as much as $75,000 or more. Graduates often go on to encore careers, starting or working at nonprofits or social-impact businesses or becoming teachers and mentors.
Newer programs are experimenting with the format, offering shorter terms; hybrid, remote and in-person classes; and lower prices. For instance, the Yale initiative is a six-month program that mixes remote classes with on-campus gatherings and costs about $25,000.
Public institutions are launching their own versions, such as the University of Colorado Denver’s Change Makers, a four-month program with twice-weekly evening classes that costs $3,600, and the University of Minnesota’s Midlife Academy, an eight-week program priced at $1,200.
"Democratization of these programs is critical because the cost, particularly of the private university programs, is inaccessible to 99% of the population," says Freedman. "We need more options that are widely available at lower price points."
Outside of academia, the preeminent program in the space is the Modern Elder Academy (MEA), which combines a vacation-like setting, high-wattage speakers and practical guidance on cultivating purpose and making the most of life after 50 at campuses in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Baja, Mexico. Online classes are available as well. Says cofounder Conley, "Longevity has given people a sense that they need to be more conscious and intentional about the curation of the second half of their adulthood."
The in-person workshops typically last three to five days and range in price from $2,000 to $6,700, including accommodations and meals. Attendees are often at a turning point in their lives — on the cusp of retirement, going through a divorce, or becoming empty nesters. "One of the things we’re known for is our teaching around transitional intelligence, what we call TQ, and how to navigate the three stages — the ending of something, the messy middle and the beginning of something else," Conley says.
As with other lifelong learning programs, Conley emphasizes that the bonds people form with other attendees are the X factor. "People are so thirsty to be in community, among a group of people who are at the same stage of life with similar challenges," he says. "Many of our cohorts continue monthly Zoom calls after they graduate and have annual get-togethers. That’s the collateral benefit people don’t expect."
Living in a learning environment
University-based retirement communities (UBRCs) offer, to varying degrees, an immersive environment for both formal and informal learning. Nationwide, there are an estimated 75 to 100 of these communities, which typically combine a senior living community, often with a continuum of care options — from independent living to assisted living, memory care and skilled nursing — with a formal affiliation with a college that allows residents to audit classes, use the campus facilities, and attend sporting and cultural events.
The experience doesn’t come cheap, though prices vary widely. Costs can typically range from $100,000 to more than $1 million for a one-time entrance fee, plus a monthly fee from $2,500 to $10,000 or more that covers dining, housekeeping, programming, and other amenities.
Mirabella at Arizona State University (ASU), where Jeffry and Anna Young live, is one example — a 20-story high-rise with 238 independent living units and 58 health care units located right on ASU’s main campus. Others include the Village at Penn State in State College, Pennsylvania; Oak Hammock at the University of Florida in Gainesville; and Lasell Village at Lasell University in Newton, Massachusetts.
The opportunities for informal learning and bonding with younger students over shared interests in these communities are features that are just as compelling for residents as taking classes, experts say.
"A college campus is so ripe with different kinds of experiences that you’re learning every day, even if you never take a class — just by being on the grounds, encountering new ideas, participating in events, discovering new technology, even figuring out how to get to the life sciences building," says Lindsey Beagley, senior director of lifelong university engagement at ASU, where she spearheaded the Mirabella initiative.
In addition to the intrinsic satisfaction of these experiences, Beagley points out that there are health benefits as well. "There’s an outdated idea that you can keep yourself cognitively sharp by doing crossword puzzles and activities like that," she says. "But abundant literature shows that the way to keep your brain plastic is to encounter new challenges and be motivated and enticed by new world views, things that fundamentally change the way our brain thinks. There’s a lot of learning that happens just by virtue of venturing outside of your bubble."
No matter what kind of learning experience you choose, be prepared to embrace being a beginner again, which can be more of a challenge than many people realize. "It’s hard to be a beginner at something after you’ve enjoyed the experience of mastery," says Beagley. "To be a lifelong learner is to accept the idea that you’re going to be bad at something, at least for a while, because learning is clunky if you’re doing it right."
Advises Wu, the professor who studies cognitive abilities across ages, "Give yourself some grace, and try to be patient with the learning process," she says. "It’s like anything else that’s healthy for us, similar to exercise. It takes time to get stronger at it and see the benefits."
For Mirabella residents Anna and Jeffry Young, one of the most rewarding parts of life on a college campus has been the social interaction with people of a different generation. "That aspect is not what guided us here, but it’s turned out to be a valuable added benefit," Jeffry says.
Recently, he says, he was walking his dog on campus and a couple of students came over to chat. He asked them what their majors were and was tickled when, after finding out that he was a student too, they wanted to know what his major was as well.
When Young recounted the incident to a fellow Mirabella resident, his neighbor told him — accurately, says Jeffry — "You should have said you were majoring in fun."
Note: This item first appeared in Kiplinger Personal Finance Magazine, a monthly, trustworthy source of advice and guidance. Subscribe to help you make more money and keep more of the money you make here.
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