Careers in Aging

Encouraged by the availability of funding, faculty at American colleges and universities expanded their instructional offerings related to aging. Typically, at first noncredit workshops were conducted, but credit courses soon followed. The first national survey of gerontology courses offered, carried out in 1957, reported that only fifty-seven colleges and universities in the United States were offering credit courses in aging (Donahue). By 1992, 1,639 (54 percent of all colleges and universities in the United States) offered such courses (Peterson, Wendt, and Douglas). At the turn of the twenty-first century, it is speculated that nearly all major institutions of higher learning offer at least a few credit courses in gerontology. This availability created an awareness among students of the variety of such courses and the diversity of jobs existing under the umbrella of gerontology, and in turn encouraged some students to explore this career option. The publicity of courses on aging is a successful method of promoting gerontology careers.