BEIJING, April 27 (Xinhua) -- Liu Xuedong, a 66-year-old retiree in east China's Shandong Province, has authored a 160,000-word novel with the help of artificial intelligence (AI), a skill set he acquired at a local university for seniors.
A veteran student of Shandong Seniors University, the first institution of its kind established in China over four decades ago, Liu speaks passionately about AI and his educational journey there. Aspiring to publish his novel, he describes his studies as making his life after retirement "rich and colorful."
Liu is not alone, with the university's classroom for "AI and smart life" filled with "old classmates" like him, eager to explore the digital world at an age when people are often deemed less curious. "The course was in high demand during registration," said Jiang Shuai, an academic administrator at the university.
Moving beyond typical retirement activities traditionally associated with Chinese retirees, such as caring for grandchildren, gardening, or dancing and traveling in groups, the new generation of elderly in the country, with fuller wallets and more impressive educational credentials, are increasingly opting to return to school in their golden years.
RISING DEMAND
According to a 2024 report, more and more elderly people in China are no longer satisfied with merely "being taken care of in old age," but are beginning to pursue "enjoyment" and "being productive" in their advanced years.
"The core needs of the active elderly group, most of whom were born in the 1960s, have shifted from survival security to enhancing quality of life and achieving self-fulfillment," said Guo Yongzhe, an analyst at CCID Consulting under China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
Universities for seniors, as experts say, serve as a mainstream channel for Chinese elderly people to continue their education and achieve a sense of "being productive" in old age, as regular higher education institutions in the country require candidates to sit an intense entrance exam, making them virtually inaccessible for the elderly group.
The latest figures available show that over 20 million elderly students nationwide had registered at around 76,000 senior universities as of April 2023. During the same period, the country's total population aged 65 and above stood at roughly 210 million.
A milestone came in March 2023 when the national-level Seniors University of China was founded. As of now, it has established 82,000 learning sites across the country, extending all the way down to the community level.
Wen Yukun, who studied for five years at a seniors' university in Nanning, the capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, said that her educational experiences there had not only provided her with a wealth of knowledge but also fostered invaluable friendships. "We still often get together for dining, tea drinking or traveling even after completing the courses."
Spurred by policy incentives, a number of market-oriented elderly education institutions have emerged, complementing public services.
Ms. Xing, manager of a private institution in Beijing that offers learning services for the elderly, said that some of their learners are unable to enroll in public institutions due to limited spots, while others have more personalized needs, such as small-class sessions or short-term courses. "We can cater to all those needs," she said.
The 2024 report, jointly released by the China Research Center on Aging and the China Association of the Universities for the Aged (CAUA), revealed that traditional courses such as dancing, calligraphy and vocal music account for over 80 percent of the course offerings.
Schools are adjusting their curricula to cater to the needs of the "active seniors," adding training programs that address digital skills and reemployment, experts noted.
According to Jiang, the elderly university in Shandong has launched new media courses in recent years, covering mobile phone photography, multimedia and short video production, all of which have been "very popular."
In the spring semester of 2026, Shanghai University for the Senior has significantly adjusted the ratio of AI and digital life courses upwards in its new curriculum, partnering with businesses to develop targeted courses that meet the new demands of elderly students.
The report shows over half of universities for the elderly now offer information technology courses, and more than 40 percent provide courses in medicine and literature.
FINDING WAYS OUT
In spite of all these endeavors, securing an education spot remains no easy feat for silver-haired learners.
Diao Haifeng, president of the CAUA, was candid in stating that a substantial gap still persists between the supply of and demand for elderly universities.
Insiders noted that access to such education remains notably limited in the country's less developed western regions, a situation exacerbated by a severe shortage of school facilities and teaching personnel.
In response, China has rolled out a string of policies in recent years to expand the supply of elderly education resources and support private investment in the sector.
In 1996, China promulgated its first law concerning the elderly, which stated that the elderly have the right to continue receiving education and the state shall develop elderly education and encourage social forces to run schools for the elderly. Over the past decades, developing elderly education has been incorporated into various national plans.
With over 85 percent of all senior universities at the county level and above being government-funded, experts suggest that the government expand the construction of community colleges for the elderly, and ensure consistent improvements in infrastructure, instructor training and installation of modern facilities in educational institutions.
Regular higher education institutions and vocational colleges should be incentivized to provide educational programs tailored to the elderly, said Li Jing, a leading researcher at the China Research Center on Aging. Li also called for expanding the elderly education industry to bridge gaps in public services.
Efforts are underway, with some public-funded elderly universities actively seeking ways to address shortfalls by collaborating with public welfare organizations. They share teaching staff and learning resources, and jointly carry out educational activities.
Some have started to cooperate with enterprises by means of "service outsourcing" or joint school operation, while certain others have taken the initiative to form partnerships with tourism agencies and elderly care institutions.
A novel service model that integrates learning, leisure, health and elderly care has been launched in elderly universities across the country.
In Qingdao, Shandong Province, an elderly university has collaborated with a travel agency since 2015 to organize study tours in China. In 2019, the university joined hands with travel agencies to establish a study tour department and organized overseas tours for the students.
Demand among the elderly population for tourism-based health plus education is growing rapidly, said Wang Changwei, board chairman of a company overseeing a scenic spot in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.
As his company has cooperated with a local elderly university, Wang said private institutions can take a differentiated approach when entering the industry by integrating resources from multiple sectors like healthcare, agriculture and education.
Nevertheless, Wang acknowledged challenges, including the need for a substantial initial investment and a long profitability cycle. He proposed that private and public institutions should collaborate to bolster market competitiveness and elevate service quality.
Experts also advocate the use of distance education to expand the accessibility of educational resources and build elderly universities "without walls."
In the virtual space, various online platforms, both at the national level and across localities, have so far gathered around 793,000 free and age-friendly courses, with registered users reaching 12.22 million.
Relying on modern media and technologies, distance education can effectively make up for deficiencies in elderly education in some cases, said Li Jing.
However, Li pointed out its limitations for certain courses such as dance, instrumental music and vocal music. Li also voiced concerns over the relatively low online learning capabilities of the Chinese elderly. ■
