Many colleges and community colleges offer special sections of their classes just for seniors. But Greenfield Community College takes that idea further and offers classes designed by and for seniors through its Senior Symposia.

Now the college is taking another step in its commitment to access and is offering financial assistance for low-income seniors for the Senior Symposia. Usually between seven and ten one- or two-session courses are offered each semester and if you were to take all of them, it would cost around $80. Low-income seniors are now being offered up to $40 off a semester. There is no eligibility process. If the assistance is asked for it will be given — no questions asked.

"We don't want to get into the business of looking at people's income tax forms," said Bob Barba, Associate Dean for Community Education. Margo Culley of Wendell is a member of the board that oversees the Senior Symposia. She said that when she joined the board recently, she started to see that a lot of people in the community wanted to take courses in the Senior Symposia, but could not afford it. She is happy about the new financial assistance program. "We're just trying to open the doors a little wider," she said. "Nobody should be prohibited from coming because of the cost."

The Senior Symposia started in 2002 and was the brainchild of Ethel "Risky" Case. The college had been offering senior tuition wavers for people 55 and older to take regular classes at GCC. The college still does that, but Case pointed out that most seniors don't want to take a full-schedule course. She suggested creating a liberal arts enrichment program with courses that are shorter in duration. A few brainstorming and program planning meetings were arranged for seniors interested in the program and from those meetings an executive committee was formed. That committee chooses what programs will be offered each semester. Many of the ideas come from the membership, who suggest ideas and presenters at the Annual Meeting and throughout the year.

"Seniors actually choose the programming they want and find the instructors they want and this is what they put on," Barba said. "I think it appeals to a great range of intellectually alive and curious people," Culley said. "It's an engaging social environment and it's something people really look forward to each week." The funding for the financial assistance will come from donations. In the first few years of the programming, participants were asked to give a $25 membership fee to take classes.

Membership fees have been eliminated this year, and participants are encouraged to make a donation the new fund if they wish to. Barba said the financial assistance will be offered with no approval process for a year, and if it looks like there won't be enough money to continue this way, the system will be reevaluated. "But with the generous contributions we're getting, it doesn't look like that will be a problem," he said. Anyone interested in registration or getting a brochure about classes should call 775-1681, or visit Community Education on the web at https://www.gcc.mass.edu/community_education/senior_symposia.html.