Mississippi State lowers age for retiree students to attend free

[Newsguy]

More... (http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/local/Jackson/Hattiesburg_American/SIG=13fms2l37/**http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hattiesburgamerican.com%2Fapps% 2Fpbcs.dll%2Farticle%3FAID%3D%2F20061207%2FNEWS01% 2F61207003)

[fuzzis]

Being an adult ed person, I think this is a FANTASTIC thing...particularly when there are universities and colleges in the US that are cutting their retiree programs due to concerns about cost.

fuzzis

[Maggie-Doodle]

What an excellent idea! MAYBE USM will take the hint and do the same thing!

[fuzzis]

What an excellent idea! MAYBE USM will take the hint and do the same thing!

USM has the Institute for Learning Retirement (http://www.usm.edu/ncpc/ilr/index.html). They do some good work there.

fuzzis

[Wayward]

USM has the Institute for Learning Retirement (http://www.usm.edu/ncpc/ilr/index.html). They do some good work there.

fuzzis
Thanks for mentioning this fuzzis. The organization name recently changed to the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) due to a generous grant and anticipated future support from the Osher Foundation.

Here is a link to an updated OLLI Web site (http://www.usm.edu/ncpc/olli/). Membership is open to anyone 50 years of age or older. Membership is currently approximately 450.

OLLI works on the same academic schedule as USM. Classes cover pretty much every sphere of interest from politics to comparative religions, to cooking, to bird watching, to financial management to you name it. It's an outstanding area resource.

As Hawkeye mentioned, USM does have a $50 "listening license" for senior adults to audit standard University academic classes ... but I don't know all the details.

[Wayward]

More... (http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/local/Jackson/Hattiesburg_American/SIG=13fms2l37/**http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hattiesburgamerican.com%2Fapps% 2Fpbcs.dll%2Farticle%3FAID%3D%2F20061207%2FNEWS01% 2F61207003)
I just read this "more" link and see that the tuition free class offering for senior adults is at Mississippi State. What's hard for me to believe is that only 6 people in the Starkville area took advantage of the program during the Fall semester.

At the USM Osher Lifelong Learning Institute there are several concurrent classes every day of the week and there is an overall membership of over 400. Strange comparison with Starkville and MSU. :smt102

[Hermione]

I think there's confusion here because the OLLI classes are not the same as regular classes. The tuition-free program is for regular credit classes.

[Wayward]

I think there's confusion here because the OLLI classes are not the same as regular classes. The tuition-free program is for regular credit classes.
I'm not really confused ... but perhaps my posts were confusing. :)

The OLLI program has absolutely nothing to do with the university credit courses. OLLI has a curriculum committee, organizes the courses, arranges for course facilitators, etc. There is an annual membership and a small fee per course taken.

The "listening license" is for university credit courses. I have no idea how many folks take advantage of this a the Southern Miss ... and to the best of my knowledge, it is not particularly advertised.

My comparison of OLLI membership to the number of folks taking advantage of the "free tuition" option at MSU was simply to emphasize the rich lifelong learning opportunity we have in the Hattiesburg area and how many folks take advantage of the opportunity. :smt038

[SoMissTV]

Age discrimination. I want my classes for free, too! :)

[Wayward]

Age discrimination. I want my classes for free, too! :)
You already too smart. :smt118

:smt006

[Lylabean]

I remember attending State and having classe with an older student who was taking classes for free. It was a lot of fun to have class with him. The young can definitely learn a lot with older students in their classes.

[Smokey Bear]

Thanks for mentioning this fuzzis. The organization name recently changed to the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) due to a generous grant and anticipated future support from the Osher Foundation.

Here is a link to an updated OLLI Web site (http://www.usm.edu/ncpc/olli/). Membership is open to anyone 50 years of age or older. Membership is currently approximately 450.

OLLI works on the same academic schedule as USM. Classes cover pretty much every sphere of interest from politics to comparative religions, to cooking, to bird watching, to financial management to you name it. It's an outstanding area resource.

As Hawkeye mentioned, USM does have a $50 "listening license" for senior adults to audit standard University academic classes ... but I don't know all the details.
One of the reasons that made Hattiesburg tops on our relocation list was
USM and OLLI. USM because it gives a town a good mix of ages and activities and the OLLI group because it lets seniors meet other people and stay active in the community.Thanks Wayward for explaining OLLI to all MH members.