4/3/2015 – Over 50 and Back in College (The New York Times)

For many, a retirement of babysitting grandchildren, golfing and relaxing on the beach is passé. Older people today approach work as a pillar of a retirement lifestyle, planning ahead and adding skills even before leaving their current jobs.As demand for more adult learning opportunities accelerates, colleges and universities are trying to figure out how to tap into the market for second careers to bolster their revenue and perhaps build alumni loyalty. The potential audience is huge. By 2030, the number of Americans 65 and older will grow to 72 million, up from 40.2 million in 2010, according to the United States Census Bureau. To date, colleges and universities have paid little attention to the needs of this population. “It makes no sense, however, to have an educational system that ends in the 20s when people are likely to be working into their 80s,” said Laura L. Carstensen, founding director of the Stanford Center on Longevity. “We need to rethink these things.”

Read the full article at The New York Times.