Free College Courses

[haha]

I think I read recently that the state universities in Florida allow seniors to attend classes tuition free. (Someone on this board may have said this.)

I think this would be a really interesting retirement activity for some of us, certainly me. Does anyone have information about Florida or other states or schools institutions that have this policy?

Ha

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

hey ha,

here it is in pensacola www.uwf.edu/CATALOG/regsenior.htm

U.S. citizens, permanent resident aliens, or legal aliens granted indefinite stay by INS, who are 60 years old or older and who meet the Florida residency for tuition purposes may enroll in courses under the State of Florida’s Senior Citizen Tuition Fee Waiver program. A Florida “resident for tuition purposes” is a person who has established and maintained legal residency in Florida for the previous twelve-month period.

Course work taken under the Senior Citizen Tuition Fee Waiver is on an audit basis. No academic credit shall be awarded for attendance in classes for which fees are waived.

i assume this is for the entire state system. will see if i can find something that says that.

edit: yep, sure looks for real. here it is at u of f where i partied studied for a few years in my youth. thinking about moving there if florida makes the "save our homes" property tax rate portable. www.registrar.ufl.edu/currents/specialregistrations.html

Senior Citizen Audit Free course enrollment for Florida residents 60 and over

g-ville is a great little town. i've always had a good time there. beautiful campus. also they have shands teaching hospital. i've been looking at properties there. looks like you can get a nice house on an acre within 20 minutes of town for $250k.

 

[haha]

Thanks Lazy!

Ha

 

[justin]

I think the University of North Carolina system has this policy (free or dirt cheap) for 1 or 2 classes a semester. Try www.unc.edu or www.ncsu.edu. I did a quick search on Ncsu's site and came up empty. Maybe try finding a ph # and call them? at ncsu, it would probably be the "Lifelong Education" dept. at 1.866.294.9903.

 

[Joss]

I'm looking at NE Tennesse and they let you audit for free afther you are 60. ETSU has a bunch of interesting courses and this is REAL high on my list.

 

[Jay_Gatsby]

hey ha,

here it is in pensacola www.uwf.edu/CATALOG/regsenior.htm

i assume this is for the entire state system. will see if i can find something that says that.

edit: yep, sure looks for real. here it is at u of f where i partied studied for a few years in my youth. thinking about moving there if florida makes the "save our homes" property tax rate portable. www.registrar.ufl.edu/currents/specialregistrations.html

g-ville is a great little town. i've always had a good time there. beautiful campus. also they have shands teaching hospital. i've been looking at properties there. looks like you can get a nice house on an acre within 20 minutes of town for $250k.

Here, here for Gainesville. If I didn't have a career in Northern Virginia, I'd move back to Gainesville in a heartbeat, a town where I also partied studied hard. I'm sure it's changed quite a bit since I was there to visit for a weekend (1996 homecoming game/Gator Growl), but the thought of living so close to very fond memories greatly tempts my soul.

 

[Zoocat]

University of Colorado Boulder has a "senior auditor" program that is free for those age 55+, except for the initial $45 membership fee, and $5 a semester. You don't have to be an alumnus. The only courses off limits, assuming there is space, are Spanish and Portuguese.
http://www.cualum.org/seniorauditor/

 

[J-Lu]

MIT offers most of their undergraduate and graduate courses online for free (for auditing only). Downloading materials takes minutes. www.ocw.mit.edu

 

[mickeyd]

Texas state universities have a similar deal for those old guys that are over 65. We younger fellas, still have to pay the full frieght...or wait a few years.

 

[flipstress]

The University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee and the flagship UW Madison also offer courses for auditing by people aged 60 or over.

There are some classes that are not available, but there should be enough to choose from at these bigger campuses.

However, it ain't Florida--we're expecting to get 2 inches of snow tonight, the big storm tomorrow night, with a forecast of 11 to 17 inches of snow by the end of the next couple of days.

 

[Caroline]

The book "Retirement on a Shoestring" by John Howells lists "retirement destination" states and their free or reduced tuition plans for seniors. (Most of these are "space available.")

This is from the 2002 edition:

Alabama: Free or reduced to 60 or over
Arkansas: waive student fees for 60 or older
California: State colleges: waive app. and registration for 60 or over
Florida: State colleges: Waives app, reg. and related fees for 60 and older
Georgia: Waives fees for 62 and older
Hawaii: Waives tuition or fees at U of H for 60 or older
Kentucky: Waives tuition and fees at state schools for 65 and over
Louisiana: Public colleges and universities: 60 or older. Also 50% off textbooks
Maryland: Waives U of M system fees for 3 courses per term for 60 or older. Same for community colleges
Mississippi: Waives tuition for 55 and over for one credit class semester / unlimited auditing
Nevada: Waives reg fees for 62 and older
New Mexico: May reduce tuition to $5 per hour for up to six semester hours for 65 or older
North Carolina: Waives tuition at colleges and universities for 65 or older
South Carolina: Waives tuition at any public college for 60 or older
Tennessee: Waives tuition and reg fees at public college and university for 65 or older
Texas: State supported schools: waives tuition for 65 or older to audit.
Utah: Waives tuition for 62 or older
Virginia: Waives tuition for auditing for 60 or older w/ annual incomes less than $10K
Washington: State univ. and comm. colleges may waive tuition to 60 or older

 

[Independent]

MIT offers most of their undergraduate and graduate courses online for free (for auditing only). Downloading materials takes minutes. www.ocw.mit.edu

I looked at this site recently and didn't see as much there as I had hoped. In most cases they had assignments and readings and maybe overheads from lectures.

I was hoping to find video (or at least audio) of lectures. The only one I could find with video was a Linear Algebra course.

Is this your experience? or am I missing something?

 

[Joss]

Maybe it's just me, but my interest in auditing courses would not be met by sitting at home and staring at my computer. To me, taking the occaisional class is pure self gratification and as much social as intellectual.

I want to sit in on the lectures and hear the person talk, to walk through the campus to the classes, to be around the other students and maybe pop into the student union for a cup of coffee, or say hello to the teacher and comment on the lecture if I feel like it.

Plus there's PE courses like kayaking, camping, fencing, orienteering. Man... this is gonna be great!!!!