N.Y. Times: College Retirement Communities Poised to Surge

Retirement communities located near colleges and universities are poised for an uptick in popularity as the boomers start retiring in larger numbers, reports the New York Times.

There are approximately 60 college retirement communities across the country, including ones near Stanford, Notre Dame, Penn State, Oberlin College, and the Rochester Institute of Technology.

While many colleges—including Ivy League institutions—don’t have enough land to build their own affiliated senior living community, universities in the West and Midwest have plenty of available land, according to Andy Carle, an assistant professor at George Mason University who created the university’s senior housing administration program. 

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With the enormous boomer generation approaching retirement age, many college-affiliated retirement communities will experience “significant upticks” in popularity, Carle told the Times. 

These types of communities generally offer several perks, from intellectually stimulating environments to stable housing prices, plenty of cultural and sports events to attend, and “cutting edge” healthcare options via universities’ medical institutions, according to experts cited in the article. 

Not all college retirement communities are the same. Some are merely located in close proximity to a college or university, while others are actually partnered with or managed by educational institutions.

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Such is the case with Lasell Village on the campus of Lasell College in Newton, Mass., where residents are required to take a certain number of class hours each calendar year.

“People need engagement,” Paula Panchuck, vice president of Lasell Village at Lasell College, told the Times. “They do not have to sit and twiddle their thumbs here.”

Read the full article at the New York Times. 

Written by Alyssa Gerace