White-Hair College

At first, retirement was "a brutal experience" for Lea Punch. Back in her native Toulouse after many years as an education inspector and vocational guidance adviser in former French North Africa, she found the days dragging oppressively. Then Mme. Punch discovered Third Age College, and since she enrolled last spring, her life has regained its former vigor. "College is good for me," she says. "It makes me do intellectual gymnastics."

Mme. Punch is one of nearly 1,000 students now in their first year at Third Age College, a new division of the University of Toulouse designed exclusively for men and women of what the French call the third age: the years after retirement. At 65 she is among her contemporaries; half of the Third Age students are in their 60s. Another 35% are in their 70s and 80s and three students are in their 90s.

There are no entrance exams for Third Age College, and neither the pace nor the curriculum is as rigorous as that for younger undergraduates. But the fare is a rich and varied mix that includes lectures, seminars and study projects on topics ranging from Swedish social democracy to practical subjects like "Preventing and Slowing Down Old Age."

During one recent week, the activities for the aging undergraduates included a visit to a local center for handicapped children, a British film about the sea, a lecture on Italian literature and a discussion of Cabinet Minister Alain Peyrefitte's new book When China Awakens. There were also special calisthenics, deep-breathing exercises, and gentle workouts with basketballs and big hoops. The stars of the class are a 78-year-old who does cartwheels and an octogenarian who can stand on his head.

Indeed, the physical-education program and free annual medical checkup are among the greatest attractions for many of the Third Age students. Says Retired Accountant Pierre Destren, 71: "I was getting ready to start riding a bike, so I came to this college to see what else I'm still capable of doing physically."

When the Third Agers first arrived on campus there was a bit of snickering from the younger students. But now, while there is little mixing between the two age groups, the denizens of "white-hair college" are taken for granted. "We don't make fun of each other," says Student Jean-Gaston Picquart, 75, a retired public-housing planner whose son Francois, 23, is enrolled in the university's medical school.

Third Age College is the brainchild of Pierre Vellas, 49, a professor of international public law and director of the Institute of International Studies at Toulouse. So far, Vellas has run the college on a shoestring budget out of his institute, but the French government is so impressed that it has promised substantial subsidies for the future. Eventually, Vellas hopes, his students will become leaders and teachers of groups of elderly people in and around Toulouse. Meanwhile, he is delighted with the effect the college is having on the elderly students. Says he proudly: "It makes the brain and the lungs and the legs work again."

The U.S. has nothing quite like Third Age College. But more modest academic programs for older citizens are springing up at campuses around the country. Institutions that have recently opened up courses free of charge to the elderly include the University of Denver, Seattle Pacific College, Ohio State University and City University of New York. Also in New York City, Fordham University's "College at Sixty" offers special seminars for the retired.

Perhaps the most imaginative new project is a federally supported experiment in multigenerational living called "the Bridge" at Fairhaven College in Bellingham, Wash. Thirty-three adults aged 60 to 80 are paying modest fees to live on campus in a dormitory that also houses a day-care center for preschoolers. In addition to auditing classes and attending lectures and concerts, the oldsters are helping out in the day-care center and providing valuable guidance and perspective for their younger campus neighbors.

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