Can Helping Older Adults Find Their 'Next Act' Pay Off for Colleges?

Some U.S. colleges are offering programs to tap the under-resourced senior market to offset diminished or flattening enrollment, reports Education Dive . Programs at Stanford University, the University of Notre Dame, and elsewhere are niche and very expensive, yet such projects promise to reap dividends as colleges seek additional and more diverse revenue channels from which to acquire new alumni, or revive relationships that could lead to donations or partnerships. Experts recommend that these initiatives should aim to further intergenerational learning on campus and uphold older learners' unique needs — by offering participants room to grow, for example. "When adults come into the program, they oftentimes think that what they're good at and what they are able to understand is very narrow," said founding director of Notre Dame's Inspired Leadership Initiative Thomas Schreier Jr. However, he added that those enrollees "all believe that they have a next act." Washington University in St. Louis Professor Brian Carpenter suggested that colleges developing immersive learning programs for older adults should first evaluate the market of the kinds of students they want to attract, and ask participants what they want the program to give them.