With less students on campus this summer, it might be difficult not to notice everyone. One thing that catches the eye is the number of senior citizens attending classes. There might only be one or two in a class, but their impact is strong and continues throughout every quarter. Program 60, a program developed in 1974 by Ohio State President Harold Enarson, allows senior citizens are able to take classes at OSU.
LuAnn Sweet, Program 60 coordinator, said the program was later mandated by the Ohio Legislature forcing all state-supported universities to allow senior citizens older than 60 to take classes on a no-tuition, non-credit, space available basis.
“Our program started before the state mandated bill setting the age at 65 years old,” Sweet said. “Bill 497 changed it to 60.”
Terry O’Laughlin, trustee of the Program 60 Association and student, has been involved in this program for eight years.
“I’ve taken 18 courses, mostly history or history of art, but also some aviation classes” O’Laughlin said.
Program 60 Association is a club that senior citizen students can join to involve themselves with OSU outside of the classroom.
“We meet four times a year to plan volunteer activities,” O’Laughlin said. “I am going to be an usher at graduation in a couple weeks.”
As a retired citizen, O’Laughlin saw many benefits to participating in Program 60.
Daniel McDonald, professor of communications, has had these nontraditional students in his classes frequently.
“I get one or two in the large classes every quarter,” McDonald said. “I typically see them in the media history class.”
As a professor who enjoys having them in class, McDonald said he believes that they can contribute to the overall learning experience in the classroom.
“I think they help class discussion by bringing different perspectives on subjects,” said McDonald said. “They are also a tremendous resource for classes in which students work in groups.”
Participants of Program 60 are not required to take tests or write papers, but some do still take notes and participate like an undergraduate student.
Betty Bryan, a trustee of Program 60 and a student, enjoys interacting with the younger students.
“Sometimes they will borrow my notes or I will have a cup of coffee with them,” said Bryan said. “It is the relationship with the students that makes this enjoyable for me.”
Bryan, who only takes classes in the winter, is doing something that she never had the opportunity to do when she was younger.
“I always wanted to take philosophy when I was in school, so now I am working my way through the whole department,” she said.
According to the Office of Continuing Education, from which Program 60 is run, there are approximately 355 members of the Program 60 Association. Because paying the $3 annual dues to be a member of the Association is not a requirement to take classes, the Program 60 database currently has 639 participants. The Office of Continuing Education is trying to get the word out to get more senior citizens involved.
“It is a great outreach program because as more and more people learn about it, they interact with the university and the community,” Sweet said.
