Richland College chosen for national PLUS 50 Intiative
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Program Aims to Help Older Students Live Later Years with Purpose and Fulfillment
Dallas, Texas – It’s a word none of them like to hear – the dreaded “R” word – retirement. Don’t label them with the “S” word either, because they don’t see themselves as “senior” anything. As they have for decades, the 78 million baby boomers now approaching traditional retirement age want to define life after 50 on their own terms. Now, they will be getting help from America’s community colleges via a newly launched “Plus 50 Initiative.”
Richland College was selected as one of 15 colleges that will participate in the three-year initiative, which will develop and benchmark models for innovative programs reaching out to students over age 50. The project is funded with a $3.2 million dollar grant from The Atlantic Philanthropies and is led by the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC).
“We are excited to have the opportunity to collaborate with other colleges as we all expand and enhance our programs,” says Mitzi Werther, Boomers Reboot program director. “We look forward to the challenge of discovering and fulfilling the unique needs of this diverse group.”
With life expectancies at record highs, many boomers expect to spend as many as three decades in retirement. Their imminent generational departure from the workforce is creating anxiety among employers and civic organizations, that worry about a loss of skills, leadership and institutional memory.
Today’s baby boomers see their lives after 50 as a melding of education, employment and leisure, with four out of five people over 50 saying they plan to work at least part time in retirement, according to Civic Ventures, a California-based think tank that focuses on engaging baby boomers. Yet 62 percent of the boomer generation wishes they were better prepared for retirement, according to a 2006 MetLife study.
Community colleges are ideally suited to help baby boomers determine how to make their bonus years productive and fulfilling. These institutions have long catered to the needs of non-traditional students, with 16 percent of their student population over age 40 and their average student age capping well above traditional four-year colleges at 29 years.
Five million of the 11.5 million community college students today are not pursuing traditional for-credit degree programs. Instead, they are opting for certificates, training classes, and exploratory programs, thanks to the community colleges that offer easy access, flexible scheduling and shorter-term learning experiences.
For the baby boomer who is working and approaching retirement from the workplace, a community college course in goal-setting and planning may be just the ticket. Others may find classes in literature, philosophy, cooking or another topic, to be a welcome renaissance for interests that were tabled while raising children and working full time. A class on starting a business can satisfy that entrepreneurial urge and help a plus 50 student map out how to keep income flowing even after traditional retirement.
Richland College will be one of 10 Demonstration colleges that will launch new programs for students who are “plus 50,” with the help of seed grants. They’ll be aided with valuable expertise from five Mentor colleges that already have established programs for students over the age of 50.
Demonstration colleges receiving grants are: Chaffey Community College (Cucamonga, Calif.), Clover Park Technical College (Lakewood, Wash.), Joliet Junior College (Joliet, Ill.), Luzerne County Community College (Nanticoke, Pa.), Northern Virginia Community College (near Washington, D.C.), Santa Fe Community College (Gainesville, Fla.), St. Louis Community College (St. Louis, Mo.), Wake Technical Community College, (Raleigh, N.C.) and Western Dakota Technical Institute (Rapid City, S. D.) and Richland.
Mentor colleges receiving grants are: Cape Cod Community College (West Barnstable, Mass.), Central Florida Community College (Ocala, Fla.), Century College (White Bear Lake, Minn.), Clark College (Vancouver, Wash.) and Community College of Spokane (Wash.)
May 12th, 2008 at 11:29 am
[...] For more about the PLUS 50 initiative, click here. [...]