| Senior
Citizens Denied Education Opportunities |
| Educators
Flunk Standards of Law Exams |
By Bill Wohlfeld
Observer Staff Writer |
| Have you ever wished you could go back to the University
of Virginia or George Mason University to finish your degree
but couldn't afford tuition? Maybe you'd like to audit a class
or take a non-credit course in computers at a nearby community
college. |
| Though little-known, seniors may attend, tuition free, any
course at any of Virginia's publicly funded colleges or universities,
under the Senior Citizens Higher Education Act of 1974, as
amended. |
| Now, before you get out your old beanie cap, here are the
rules: |
| 1. You must be at least 60 years old and have had legal
domicile in Virginia for one year. |
| 2. Enrollment full-time or part-time for academic credit
is limited to persons whose income for the previous year didn't
exceed $10,000 for federal income tax purposes. |
| 3. Enrollment for non-credit or audit is free, regardless
of income. You can't take more than three courses per term,
quarter or semester. |
| 4. Free senior enrollment is limited to space available.
Tuition paying students are accommodated first but exceptions
may be made if the senior has completed 75 percent of degree
requirements. |
| 5. The Act further states that its benefits for senior citizens
shall be prominently displayed in each institution's catalog. |
| In order to grade how well educators are carrying out the
above rules, "Standards of Law" (not to be confused
with the SOL used to test high-schoolers) were established
for this "report card." The principal indicators
were whether the letter and intent of the law were being followed.
To find out, telephone surveys were made to Loudoun, Annandale,
and Alexandria community colleges, George Mason University
and the local campuses of the University of Virginia and Virginia
Tech. |
| Although the law explicitly applies to any class in any
state-supported college or university, there isn't uniform
interpretation or application among the schools or within
the schools. To ensure that paying students get first priority,
senior registration for Loudoun's credit classes begins the
first day of class, but its non-credit Community Education
program narrows the window of registration to 3 p.m. the day
before classes start. For Saturday class, registration is
restricted further to 4 p.m. Friday. |
| Loudoun also goes beyond the law by not permitting more
than one senior citizen free enrollment in a class, regardless
of the number of empty seats. As a result of this policy,
a Saturday class met with a total of four paying students,
one non-paying senior citizen and 30 empty seats. Alexandria's
Community Education Program limits its classes to two or three
seniors per class and completely excludes tuition-free seniors
from some classes. School officials justify their exclusionary
practices on the need for non-credit classes to operate on
a for-profit system because they aren't tax-subsidized. |
| Examination of the catalog and class schedules of schools
in this survey revealed failures to carry out the law's requirement
that they prominently display the benefits for senior citizens
under Virginia's Senior Citizens Higher Act. Some catalogues
and class schedules don't mention these senior benefits or
do so incompletely or incorrectly. In some cases, the registration
forms are incomplete or incorrect, and Virginia Tech goes
beyond the law by requiring all applicants for credit courses
to submit a copy of their federal IRS 1040 form in addition
to the normal certification of eligibility. |
| In its wisdom in 1974, the Virginia General Assembly passed
the Senior Citizens Higher Education Act to enable senior
citizens to continue their education in state-supported institutions
at no cost, on a space-available basis. It's truly a win-win
situation with no revenues lost for the institutions. Unfortunately,
it's evident from this survey that these schools are failing
to follow fully either the letter or the intent of the law.
Arbitrary barriers and exclusions to enrollment have been
erected to the detriment of eligible senior citizens who are
being denied the Act's benefits. |
| To prevent these negative impacts, readers are urged to
contact their elected state senators and delegates to ask
them to take appropriate action to have all state-supported
colleges and universities review their procedures to make
certain that they are in full compliance. Furthermore, in
this era of electronic miracles, a senior-friendly registration
system can surely be developed. It's also recommended that
the 1974 income limitation of $10,000 for seniors earning
credits be increased since it's woefully outdated in current
dollars. Remind your legislators that an empty classroom seat
denied to a qualified senior citizen is a wasted opportunity
for all society. |
| Fixing will take time so, in the interim, don't hesitate
to return to academia. These benefits are for you. You've
earned them. And that's the law. |
