Fern Nettleton, a student in the Joyful

After receiving a $1 million grant from its national parent organization this spring, Kansas University’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute plans to hold classes in 19 Kansas cities this fall.

And while hitting the double digits is admirable, the organization’s director, Jim Peters, said he’d like to see the Osher Institute reach 100 cities across the state in the future.

The institute earned the gift from the Bernard Osher Foundation, which has around 120 similar organizations at many different universities across the country, Peters said.

To earn the grant, the institute needed to meet 12 benchmarks involving membership, volunteers and programming, Peters said.

Of the other institutes nationwide, “none have done the kind of outreach we’ve tried to do,” Peters said.

The grant will also give the institute, which is not currently profitable, a boost toward self sufficiency, Peters said. Currently, the institute relies on university funds, registration fees and donations, but each bit of help is one step closer to financial independence, he said.

Founded in 2004, KU’s Osher Institute is one of the University’s Continuing Education programs, Peters said.

The organization focuses on providing short college courses to participants above the age of 50, although anybody can participate. The average student age for the institute is 74 years old, Peters said.

The institute’s classes touch on a range of subjects, including history, literature, music and science, to name a few, Peters said.

“I tell my professors they won’t see their students reading the newspaper or in the back of the room texting or on their iPads,” he said. “These are very dynamic classes because the students want to be there.”

Longtime Osher Institute professor John Mack said he began teaching with the organization with one class a year. Now, that number has grown to eight.

Expanding the institute’s reach will yield obvious benefits, Mack said. As his students learn, no matter their age, they enrich their lives and bring that knowledge back to their communities.

“All the research has shown that lifelong learning is something that has tremendous benefits for the people who are engaged in it. Psychologically, socially and physically,” he said.