Universities of the Third Age and Third Age Education

Rezumat

Over the past fifty years, Universities of the Third Age have grown into a worldwide phenomenon, offering educational experiences to millions of older learners across radically different cultural and institutional landscapes. Born in Toulouse in 1973 under Pierre Vellas's direction, the French model linked these programs directly to universities. Britain's 1980s reimagining created a peer-led alternative that spread through Anglophone nations. Today we see hybrid forms emerging worldwide, each shaped by local welfare traditions, higher education structures, and civic capacity. My analysis draws on international research to show how the competing vision of university affiliation versus community autonomy - produces distinct outcomes in access, sustainability, and pedagogy. While evidence consistently links participation to cognitive vitality, social integration, and wellbeing, major gaps remain digital divides exclude many, socioeconomic barriers persist, and policy support lags demographic need.