Named for former UK President Henry L. Donovan, the program offers tuition-free academic and enrichment courses to anyone over the age of 65. Launched in 1964, it is the nation's oldest program of its kind, awarding its first bachelor's degree in 1967 and its first Ph.D. in 1975. About 550 senior citizens participate in college courses each semester. Arleen Johnson, director of the Donovan Scholars Program, said the programs attract a broad variety of older students. She noted the number of older students likely will increase, since the population of people reaching age 65 is rapidly growing.
Older students say they like to come back to school because they study what they want.
Some of them, who may have attended college previously, want to flesh out their basic knowledge with electives. Some of them are re-tooling, like the ones who take computer classes to develop those skills for business purposes. Johnson noted that a number of older students are drawn back to school to finish their studies. Older students usually find their decision to return to school to be wise, she said. Deb Danner, a researcher at UK's Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, confirmed Johnson's statement.