The Graying Of Colleges

You might think the typical college lecture hall is filled with young people. But not anymore.

But in The Early Show series "Young at Heart," Debbye Turner tells us about a group of students who can't wait to go back to class. College campuses across the country are opening their doors to seniors.

The movement is so pronounced, Turner says, quite a few retirement communities around the country are being built next to major colleges and universities so seniors can continue their learning.

Turner met a group of retirees at the University of Pennsylvania. They give a whole new meaning to the term "senior class."

Seymour and Sandra Piwoz met at the school in the early 1950s, when they were undergrads. "Pompadours were the style," notes Seymour.

And even though Sandra stayed at home to raise four children and Seymour had a successful career as a radiologist, they're back on campus now, simply for the joy of learning.

"Retirees taking college classes is nothing new. That's been going on for decades. But the senior associates program at the University of Pennsylvania has become so popular that, in some instances, the seniors outnumber the younger students."

"I remember walking into the room and thinking, 'Am I in the right place? This doesn't look like a college class," says sophomore Francesa Brody.

With retirees increasingly drawn to centers of learning, "We've capped our classes at 10 percent, but a lot of our professors say, 'Come on in,' and even take more seniors as there's been increasing demand for it," says Amy Gutmann, president of the University of Pennsylvania.

Professor Jonathan Steinberg, who teaches a popular class in American history, says, at last count, the course had 39 undergrads and 93 enrolled senior associates.

"They definitely bring a reality to the subject matter, an immediacy, that they flew in these battles, and they left Europe during this time period," Brody noticed.

Why would people who have long since finished their education be eager to go back to school?

"I'm not a golfer, I don't play tennis and I don't play bridge," responds Sandra Piwoz. "I like to do something constructive and instructive."

Husband Seymour adds, "I have a strong feeling for lifelong learning, and there's so much to learn … and there's so much that I hadn't had the opportunity to learn."

"You just go and listen and enjoy," explains former Philadelphia schoolteacher Edna Green, who's been auditing classes for over 15 years.

She purposely doesn't "take any of the sciences, because my work was in the sciences and I could probably teach the class."

Seymour Piwoz admits he's just like his younger fellow students in one way. "I do occasionally doze in class," he laughs.

The University of Pennsylvania charges $200 per class, Turner reports, and the money goes to a scholarship fund.

In Ohio, she points out, the state legislature passed a bill providing free classes on a space-available basis to all people 60 and older at state-supported colleges and universities.