More and more retirees say they are giving school another shot with the Boston University Evergreen Program – and find they learn a lot more the second time around.
The Evergreen Program allows people who are at least 58 years old to audit BU classes for $75 per course. Participants do not receive credit and are not required to take tests or turn in assignments, though they are given the option to hand in graded material, Metropolitan College Lifelong Learning Department Director Rebecca Alssid said.
“It’s nice not to have to do the work,” Evergreen student Phyllis Sweet said. “I’ve realized this is a problem in liberal arts education, always being worried about work. Now I get to just listen and get the broad concepts.”
Sweet takes courses with her husband, Steve Sweet, who said he has never learned so much in the past.
Participants who decide to complete all assignments and tests said they find their experience especially enlightening.
“I enjoy writing the papers because I want to test myself,” fourth-semester Evergreen student David Crellin said. “I remember being so concerned about grades and GPA and getting into grad school, but now I’m free to just sit there and learn.”
The Evergreen Program has grown tremendously since it began in 1980, drawing around 1,400 participants each year, Alssid said.
“When it started, there were only about 35 people just taking seminars,” Alssid said. “Now [students] are so across the board. They take art history, language courses, international relations. They attend concerts at the Tsai Center and sporting events . . . They love everything.”
Evergreen was initiated by President Emeritus John Silber to get residents from Allston, Brighton and Brookline involved at BU, Alssid said.
“More and more students were moving into Allston neighborhoods,” Alssid said. “Dr. Silber wanted to give something back to these abutting communities, so he offered them this program.”
Because of the program’s success, it was made available to the entire Boston area and eventually to all people over 58, Alssid said.
“It was such a wonderful experience for everyone involved,” Alssid said. “Now it’s open to everyone. We even have people coming in from New Hampshire.”
Evergreen students are not the only beneficiaries of the program, as younger students said they can gain insight from their elder classmates.
“The participants are students of a different age who can contribute special knowledge because they have life experience,” Metropolitan graduate student Sashanna Stefan said.
Some Evergreen participants said they are wary of participating in small discussion groups because they do not want to interfere.
“We don’t feel completely comfortable participating in discussions,” Phyllis Sweet said. “The professors do a lot of preparation and the kids pay a lot of money.”
Still, the Evergreen Program has offered participants a special experience.
“It’s been a huge part of out retirement,” Steve Sweet said. “There is a link between enjoyment and learning that I never thought existed until recently.”