Lifelong Learning meets retirement at the collegiate level

Ever feel like going back to college and reliving your youth? Well, some 47,000 people over age 65 are enrolled in colleges across the country (using 2004 statistics) and a great many more are "auditing" university classes as part of senior programs. According to the U.S. News article ("The Class Goes Gray"), the "most popular classes among senior citizens are history, literature, and philosophy."

Why not just hit the links instead of the books?

The three primary drivers are: the boredom that can accompany traditional retirement, the desire to continually improve oneself even in the later years of life, and the brain health benefits one gets by presenting new mental challenges. While the overall numbers are not large, the next generation to hit the retirement years is the baby boomer generation--a group of people who have the time, money and desire to fully embrace the "back to school" trend, so expect these numbers to take off.