Rice’s Lifelong University brings the best of higher education to retirement communities across the country and throughout our region.

Featuring dynamic virtual and community-based learning, Lifelong University welcomes retirement community residents and staff to learn from and with Rice faculty, other experts, and each other. This custom-designed pilot program fills a need for accessible, university-quality education in the later years of life. Lifelong University invites participants to share their own rich life experiences and celebrate the joy of learning for life.

University-caliber lifelong learning. Intellectual and social engagement are essential to flourish, especially as we age. Rice’s Susanne M. Glasscock School of Continuing Studies created Lifelong University to share university-caliber learning throughout the fullness of life. Lifelong University invites retirement community residents and staff to learn from and with Rice faculty, other subject matter experts and one another.

Dynamic virtual and community-based education for older adults. Lifelong University is designed to be intellectually stimulating, accessible and welcoming. This unique educational series blends dynamic, joyful virtual and community-based learning experiences. Spanning arts, humanities, sciences, and social science, Lifelong University shares intriguing research, thought-provoking questions and illuminating insights from art history to zoology and so much more.

Accessible, unlimited learning. Lifelong University is dedicated to ensuring that learning is unlimited by age, life stage, location, physical ability, financial resources and other factors.

Globally relevant, locally rooted. Lifelong University features nationally and internationally renowned scholars and educators exploring topics of global relevance. Our programs are also crafted to encourage connections to local people and places, inviting participants to share and celebrate their own rich life experiences.

Community + learning + engagement. Developed by the Rice Continuing Studies’ Community Learning and Engagement team, what makes Lifelong University distinct from other virtual learning opportunities is its integration of community and engagement into lifelong learning. As a learning organization ourselves, we’ve also designed Lifelong University to reflect best educational practices, to be responsive to community input and to be enhanced over time.

Read on to learn more about Lifelong University.

Please note that Lifelong University is currently in a pilot stage. While we are not accepting new communities at this time, we’d be glad to notify you when opportunities open in the future. See the FAQs below for more information. 

Lifelong University Participating Communities

Belmont Village Senior Living is the only retirement community organization taking part in the “2.0” pilot of Lifelong University. A dozen Belmont Village sites in Texas, Florida and Illinois are currently participating in Lifelong University.

Lifelong University is grounded in insights that arose from our earlier “micropilot,” which tested the basic model for Lifelong University. Belmont Village Senior Living was one of two retirement community organizations with multiple sites across the nation that took part in the micropilot. We are grateful to our micropilot participants for their generous insights.

Following the current 2.0 pilot, we anticipate extending Lifelong University to other retirement communities nationwide and to other organizations serving older learners of all economic backgrounds in the Houston region.