LATE‐LIFE LEARNERS AT THE UNIVERSITY: THE DONOVAN SCHOLARS PROGRAM AT AGE TWENTY‐FIVE

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Abstract
The Donovan Scholars Program (DSP) at the University of Kentucky allows persons over the age of 65 to take, without payment of fee, any regular course offered by the University. It also allows individuals 60 and older to register without charge for a range of classes specifically designed for older adults. The program was the nation's first to offer tuition waivers to older adults and it has served as a model for similar programs throughout the country. The basic premise of such programs is that institutions of higher education are in a unique position to enrich the lives of the nation's older citizens and have a social responsibility to do so. There are now over 1000 colleges and universities offering tuition waivers and other special services for older adults (Chelsvig & Timmer‐man, 1982; Moyer & Logo, 1987). Despite the large number of higher education programs for older adults, there have been surprisingly few studies of their impact or effectiveness. Previous work has primarily focused on descriptions of participants. We know, for example, that older adults who enroll in higher education are generally well‐educated already, in good health, relatively well‐off financially, and primarily female (Heisel, Darkenwald, & Anderson, 1981; Hooper, 1981; Hooper, Hooper, Colbert, & McMahan, 1986; Romaniuk & Romaniuk, 1982). What we don't know is how well special programs for older adults are achieving their goals and how these programs are perceived by participants. The widespread availability of university and college tuition‐waiver programs for older adults implies that they have both the ability and the desire to seek additional learning in a formal educational setting. However, the rate of participation in higher education is very low among older adults. Both statewide and nationwide surveys of adult education consistently find that only 1 % to 3% of those over age 60 enroll in college classes (Leptak, 1987; National Center for Education Statistics, 1981; Romaniuk, 1983, 1984). This low rate of participation must be disappointing to those who set up tuition‐waiver programs because they assumed that removing financial barriers would dramatically increase older‐adult student enrollments. This has not happened. Therefore, it is important to look at other potential institutional barriers to participation in higher education such as recruitment policies, treatment of students, and the perceived quality of any special services provided. The present study of the DSP addresses these issues by focusing on participants’ motivations for attendance, their perceptions of themselves as learners, and their evaluations of their student experiences.