Take a Course

New York State residents, who are at least 60 years of age, are welcome to enroll tuition-free as a “special auditor” each semester, including summer session, in a maximum of two credit-bearing courses in which space is available to special auditors. Course and space availability may vary. Special auditors must pay the following nonrefundable fees at the time of registration:

• $50 special auditor’s fee
• Course fees – also referred to as “lab fees” or “studio fees” – if applicable
• See the academic calendar for current and future registration dates.

1. Some faculty members will encourage auditors to participate/speak in class; others will not. Please respect the wishes of each individual instructor;
2. Note that scholarly perspectives and lenses change over time. Please embrace each course’s unique scholarly perspective, even if it leaves out material that your previous education taught you to regard as fundamental;
3. Faculty in a large modern university system such as the State University of New York (SUNY) have many tasks to perform in addition to teaching and advising. Given this reality, please do not seek out faculty during office hours or between classes (they often have only 20 minutes between two 1 hour 40-minute class meetings). You can always ask questions via email and/or request a brief meeting, which they will honor if they can;

1. Please do not ask faculty for permission to join a course until Older Adult Auditing registration officially begins. It is not until that date that faculty know how many will be in their course(s).
2. Please do not attend a class before you have officially registered. This is a Purchase College policy to ensure student safety.
3. Please do not ask to take exams or do assignments for grades. Some courses have large enrollments and faculty members are often on tight deadlines to complete graded work for matriculated students in more than one course.

The School of Continuing Education offers a variety of personal enrichment courses, professional certificate programs, and online programs and courses.

Is there a high participation course that you are interested in that is not available to be audited? Check with the School of Continuing Education at conted@purchase.edu to determine if you can register for a noncredit seat in the course at a reduced tuition rate.