The unlikely place where retirees will find a community, they won’t need a meal plan

Leaving the workforce and retiring does not necessarily mean the end of learning. Some retirees return to college by living in University Retirement Communities, or URCs, which are retirement communities located on or near campus.

Andrew Karl, an adjunct lecturer at Georgetown University and creator of the URCs database known as Universityretirementcommunities.com, believes a college campus may be an ideal environment for retiring baby boomers who want to stay involved in the community.

“If you look at baby boomers and all the studies that have been done on them, they want three things in their retirement: They want [to be] “They’re active, they want intellectual stimulation which is really important, they want intergenerational retirement environments,” Carl said. “Well, you just described the campus. So it’s a natural fit for exactly what they’re looking for.”

How do URCs actually work?

URCs vary in their level of integration with their neighboring campuses. For example, the Mirabella device at Arizona State University allows residents to audit Arizona State classes, attend lectures, and go to free sports games.

Karl points out that only a small fraction of the URCs he tracks actually have a formal relationship with the universities they are associated with.

“If you look at 85 or 90 [URCs] On the site, the vast majority of them were developed organically. “It’s a community where seniors live near a university, and over time, they develop some connections and affiliations, but nothing formal,” Carl said.

URCs are a type of continuing care community (CCRC) where residents pay a hefty entrance fee up front, which can be hundreds of thousands of dollars or more, and then a monthly fee after that.

In CCRCs, almost everything, from dining to entertainment to healthcare, is taken care of. Depending on the type of CCRC, they may offer memory care and assisted living as well.

While retirees may benefit from community living, which can facilitate the development and maintenance of social connections, the costs of URCs can be prohibitive, so they may not be an option for everyone.

For example, Vi at Palo Alto, a URC located near Stanford University, offers one-bedroom apartments with entry fees starting at more than $1.3 million and monthly fees of up to $6,200. There are a range of other floor plans too.

“When we retire, we want to stay involved,” Carl said.