Free or Cheap College Courses for Older Adults in All 50 States

I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm old enough to qualify for these programs. Digging deeper, I discovered a few local colleges & universities near me, and thought I would share. If anyone met the criteria, I'd be interested to hear about your experiences:

https://www.aarp.org/work/careers/free-college-classes/

 

I am not old enough yet, but in my state, you can only audit courses for free. You can't take them for credit. You also have to be retired or working 20 hours a week or less.

 

At 62, I took my last course at a local Community College, from which I'd graduated 3 times, (1 year day school, rest night school) between the ages of 53 and 61. They had free tuition for 65 and up - but I never even bothered. There were so many caveats, restrictions and hoops. No free tuition on any computer-related courses, you still had to pay technology fees if you used a computer in a course, regardless of subject. You couldn't take a place needed for a fee-paying student. i.e. if you registered early, then the class filled up and a fee-paying latecomer needed a seat weeks later, right before the start of class - they got yours. Hoops. hoops, hoops.

I was still spry enough to jump through hoops, but I was NOT going to bother. I DID keep my Alumni benefit of free computer and internet access for about 15 more years. It was in the books. My right. Then in 2019 a "new broom" swept clean, in IT and they shut me out - AGAINST their own written policy. A very nice staff member I knew, went to bat for me - but to no avail.

So I bought this laptop and got internet at home, for the first time, during the pandemic. When the pandemic was over, I went back to the College, gave them my 3 diplomas back - in the frames - and told the Alumni Association not to contact me ever again. So far, so good.

 

At this stage in our lives, we're certainly within our right to question the payoff when evaluating excessive red tape. These are the same institutions who will issue a press release the cancellation of these programs due to lack of interest and budget. I had a similar experience where without notice, my accessed privileges were revoked, along with my Alumni account. I shared my contract, the PDF's of the advertisements, posted the same on ALL of their social media. Fortunately, they reversed course and stated we were grandfathered into this benefit and this will be shared as a "learning experience." Right - until the next bad decision affects their bottom line.

 

This is a game-changer for me. thanks @MasterChief

 

Residents of Louisiana 55 and up can register for classes at any public college or university in the state and waive tuition and registration fees. Bonus: If you buy the books and other supplies required for the class at the school's bookstore, you get a 50 percent discount.


A tuition-free certificate, diploma, degree, and tiger for the locals who eat, breathe, and live in LSU would benefit."

The $9000 Graduate Certificate in Emerging Information Technologies for Business sure addresses my AI itch
https://online.lsu.edu/online-degree-programs/graduate-certificate/emerging-information-technologies-for-business/

I don't need a $27,000 Master of Science in Industrial Engineering (MSIE), but it could help in future project management type of consulting
https://online.lsu.edu/online-degree-programs/graduate/industrial-engineering/

Who in healthcare couldn't use a $32,000 MPH
https://online.lsu.edu/online-degree-programs/graduate/master-public-health/

 

Right. I get that. 65 is still a fair bit away, for you. We'll see...

 

I was kidding. Then I timed out. Here's the rest:

Seriously, I see your point. I'm one of the "entitled fucks" your friend mentioned. I got that way after reaching age 65 flat broke. I could go out today and buy a new Cadillac and a full-whack doctorate -- cash on the barrel-head, with maybe enough change for breakfast. (Do GM dealers and schools use barrels?) So why should I get it for free? Yeah -- I have trouble with that. That's for people who NEED it to be free. And that's not me, thankfully. I put a lot into changing that. Took me years, all after 65.

You brought something else to my attention. I thought US was alone in this Student debt mire. You're not. We have 40 billion outstanding - an average $28,000 for each new grad who has student loans. That corresponds to maybe 400 billion , or 0.4 trillion, if we had a population like the US. Not as drastic as your 1.5 trillion but we're on the way. And right - we don't help the situation by handing out freebies to people solely based on age.

I went on a tirade the other day about something a college owed me. They still do. It was in writing and was for all grads. But this is different. No school owes me a tuition-free ride because I'm old.

 

One of the adages of finance, both corporate and personal is: Large debt tends to grow. US student debt has grown from 1 trillion to 1.5 trillion in 11 years. Ours (Canada's) rose from less than 20 billion to 40 billion in the same time frame. So I could see our nation's Student Debt growing to maybe 100 billion in another decade. With our population, that could be a really nasty problem.

So - no edu-freebie for 65 and over? Yeah, I can live with that. Justin handed me free dental care last week. And I never even had to ask. Complete surprise! Hey, I still got teeth! I can use that!

 

I chose and got admitted to LSU's Graduate Certificate in Analytics starting March 4. $862 /credit with a total cost of $10,344
https://online.lsu.edu/online-degree-programs/graduate-certificate/graduate-certificate-analytics/

I researched state law

"§1807. Persons over fifty-five; exemption from tuition; fifty percent reduction in cost of textbooks; the Pursuing Rewarding, Innovative, and Meaningful Education (PRIME) Fund ....Disbursements from the fund shall not exceed two hundred dollars per credit hour."

So, is this certificate worth $8000 to me? Nope.

But I can get an MBA with a Data Analytics Concentration and take the almost same classes that is required the analytic certificate for $479 /hr.
https://online.lsu.edu/online-degree-programs/graduate/mba-data-analytics/

Im interested to see what DI thoughts are

 

What you want? Then do the do. Not the DI do? OK. You do you.

 

I was referring more to the price difference. I'm waaaayyy past the age of care what others think I should or shouldn't do. Despite the fact fusses when I get a second piece of pie

 

Sorry. I misinterpreted. (I'm rather good at that.) The cert is $8,000. The degree costs around $14, 400. (30 credits @ $479).

My take: A degree generally commands more respect than a cert. (IT and certain other industries and SOME of their certs excepted.) People often listen better to those with degrees, as I'm sure you already know, from your professional life. Whether it actually is or not, the degree appears as a greater accomplishment, even if most of the academic "meat" is contained in the cert. I think there are many who, assuming it wasn't too much of a strain on their means, would rather pay $14, 400 for the degree than $8,000 for a cert.

Plus - if you really dig the subject, and later, want to do a Doc - the MBA is good to have. In your shoes, I'd likely go for the degree. But I don't wear your ultra-posh $1,400 shoes. Italian, aren't they? Ferragamo? Nice!!! I wish....

 

I currently ABD in PhD Leadership emphasis in business Cumberlands
DNP from a ranked school
MBA - Capella
MSIO - Walden
BSN - WGU
Certificate in Public Policy - Wharton in progress
I'm the first author of researched articles published in peer-reviewed journals

My main interest is washing the for-profit stank off of my CV. I would like to go into consulting as some point in the future.

 

Good to know. I didn't. Sorry for wasting your time. Me go nap now.

 

I recognize there is an important distinction between my personal growth and fulfillment, and building my brand and being the exemplar of my compant.I am not job and my job is not me. However, fair or not, people in America often judge others through a lens of unconscious biases. From a pragmatic standpoint, I have to consider how these perceptions, rather than my passions which originally led me to pursue my expensive first undergraduate degree in Ancient Greek and Roman Studies (In my youth I thought people when to school to learn about what interest them). I did not realize I would have to actually fin a job. At the end of the day, the realities of running a profitable business have to be a priority.

 

Yay! I've gotta like any person who did that! That's distinction, indeed. Te admiror, mi amice!