TUITION?WAIVER POLICIES FOR OLDER ADULTS: WHAT ARE THE ASSUMPTIONS?

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Abstract
Although state tuition‐wavier policies have been in existence since the early 1970s, older adults’ participation remains very low. This paper looks more closely at the rationale and assumptions behind tuition‐waiver legislation including three key assumptions: 1) Older people have the ability and desire to seek additional knowledge; 2) There are currently barriers to participation of older adults in institutions of higher education; and 3) The major barrier to participation is financial. An analysis of the empirical literature suggests that older adults do have the ability to seek additional knowledge, but the desire to seek such knowledge through higher education is rare. In addition, it appears that cost is only one of several barriers, and may not be the most critical in participation decisions. Several key policy issues emerge from this analysis, and these are identified along with their implications for future policy directions.