August 19

BACK TO SCHOOL…
FOR GRANDPARENTS
Grandparents Universities offer aging baby boomers the chance to bond with their
grandkids in learning environments.
BY KATHLEEN KELLEHER
DEBBIE MERCER WENT BACK TO
COLLEGE WITH HER THEN 8-YEAR-OLD
GRANDDAUGHTER, KADENCE, IN TOW. THE
2013 EXPERIENCE WAS A CONTINUATION
OF HER INTENSE LOVE FOR BOTH HER ALMA
MATER AND HER GRANDDAUGHTER, AND
A DESIRE TO INTRODUCE KADENCE TO THE
PHOTOS: Courtesy of Kansas State University
KSU’s Debbie Mercer shares quality time with Kadence
JOYS OF FUTURE COLLEGE LIFE.
“I wanted to share my love of Kansas State [University]
with her and provide an opportunity for her to see and
experience K-State through the eyes of the student,” Mercer,
dean of the College of Education at Kansas State University,
said in an email interview. “The expectation to go on to
college needs to be nurtured and supported.”
The program Mercer and her granddaughter participated
in is Grandparents University, a shared college learning
opportunity for both old and young. The one- two- or
three-day visit is full of joint learning, frivolity and
intergenerational bond-building. Every summer thousands
of grandparents from around the world descend on college
campuses, mostly in the Midwest, with their grandkids ages
7 through 14 in tow.
There are more than 70 million grandparents in the
U.S. — more than ever before, according to 2017 Census
figures. That’s because the baby boom has aged into the
grandparent boom. The number of grandparents has jumped
by 24 percent since 2001. By age 65, 83 percent of Americans
are grandparents, according to the Pew Research Center,
and they are a robust economic and demographic force
with considerable spending power. One way grandparents
contribute to their grandchildren’s lives is by exposing
–continued on page 38
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