The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Kansas University has received a $1 million gift to help provide for its continued educational programming.

The endowed gift comes in the form of a grant from the Bernard Osher Foundation, which has similar institutes at a number of universities nationwide, said Jim Peters, director of KU’s Osher Institute.

“This gift and others will help us keep our fees low, attract additional highly qualified instructors, expand programming into communities that may not have resources for lifelong learning and maintain the technology we need to sustain our program,” Peters said.

KU’s Osher Institute, started in 2004, is part of KU Continuing Education.

This semester it is offering 85 courses in 18 cities across Kansas and in the Kansas City metropolitan area, Peters said. Although anyone can participate, the program’s special focus is on participants 50 and older.

Programs are not unlike mini college courses, with subject matter in literature, history, art, culture and more. Osher also organizes special events and field trips.

Previously, the Osher Foundation had given more than $1.5 million in support of KU’s Osher Institute, including $1 million to establish the endowed fund in 2008. KU Endowment manages the fund, a portion of the annual earnings of which provide Osher a perpetual source of operating money.

National Osher Foundation President Mary Bitterman praised the KU Osher Institute.

“We applaud, too, the university’s leadership for its support of the program and for embracing the notion that — at its best — education is a lifelong pursuit that has the power to elevate, delight and forge our connection to one another and to a larger world,” she said in a news release.