Maine Senior College Network

Welcome!

To find a current class or course offerings, see "Find a Senior College Near You" (above) where you can find the Senior College that is in a Maine community near you. From there, you'll find links to more information, including the most current listing of available classes. Thank you for visiting our site. We invite you to join us as a member of Maine Senior College.

Senior College: A New School of Thought

Since it first began nearly ten years ago, the Senior College movement in Maine has grown by leaps and bounds. Senior Colleges now stretch across Maine—from York County to Presque Isle—and provide a curriculum of intellectually stimulating learning opportunities for persons from 50 years of age or older. Maine Senior College now boasts 16 Senior Colleges across the state with more than 5000 enrollments each year.

Senior College began in 1997 at the University of Southern Maine. It began with a vision—a simple idea, really: to provide a stimulating educational program for older learners. Thanks to dedicated community and university leaders and volunteers, Senior College has now expanded into one of America's leading programs in lifelong learning. The program reaches out to all Maine older learners and is now an integral part of the lives of thousands of Maine people through Senior Colleges at locations all over the state.

The Maine Senior College Network is an organization of the states' 16 Senior Colleges, which meets to exchange information and collaborate on the development and operation of the locally governed programs. The Network is housed at The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, at the University of Southern Maine (USM) in Portland, Maine. The staff and key volunteers at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Southern Maine provide resources and assistance to launch similar programs. Contact them at (207) 780-4128 to explore starting a program in your area.

Maine Senior Colleges are members of the Elderhostel Institute Network.

What's New in Maine Senior Colleges?
Read the occasional online newsletter for Maine Senior College