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Free Tuition for Older Students
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A few years ago, 82-year-old Don Harmon of Annandale found himself doing an anthropology internship, digging on land that was once a colonial town in Colchester but is slated to become a park.
After nearly 50 years in systems engineering at Lockheed Martin, the excavation and cataloguing of relics at the Old Colchester Park and Preserve was novel. Harmon’s internship was part of his free studies in anthropology at George Mason University under a tuition waiver program for residents 60 and older.
“We spent months digging, surveying and analyzing what we found, doing lab work, archiving, writing documents on the cultural resources there,” Harmon says. That will help officials decide whether to approve the park.
Virginians 60 and older can audit up to three classes each term at any state college or university; tuition is free. For full- or part-time older students seeking credit toward a degree, the free tuition is available at community colleges and public universities, including George Mason. To qualify, the student needs an individual income under $23,850.
Lee Andes, director of finance policy at the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, says the free tuition program “is one of those programs that are out there to help make things a little more affordable for people interested in pursuing classes or even getting a degree. He says the only caveat is that if a class is full with tuition-paying students, those in the free tuition program go on a wait list. In 2024, more than 1,800 older adults were enrolled in free classes, he says.
Harmon started taking courses a decade ago and has studied anthropology and other cultures. A recent course in modern Chinese history helps him understand current events and sort competing information he hears on topics like China.
- Learn more about AARP advocay in Virginia.
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