Lessons From the Open University: Third‐age Learning

Negative stereotypes about older people's capacity to engage in serious learning have, until recent times, been supported by psychological studies of age‐related cognitive functioning. Recent studies, however, reveal a wide variety of capability among those in the third age. Significant evidence of this is provided by the performance of 25 years of older students at the U.K. Open University. The proportion of undergraduate students over age 50 has risen to 14%, and the proportion over 60 has risen to 5%. Whilst their course choices, motivations, and methods of learning differ from younger students’, their academic performance compares favorably.