Expanding gerontology enrollments: successful results of an innovative outreach program

As state budget allocations for higher education decrease, "specialty" programs such as gerontology must continually demonstrate their productivity. State and private universities increasingly rely on student credit hours (SCH) or tuition generated, which is making it difficult for many gerontology programs to expand. The School of Aging Studies at the University of South Florida has achieved a 236% increase in annual SCH productivity over the past 5 years by methods including qualifying courses for university liberal arts requirements, and designing and cross-listing interdisciplinary courses. This increased productivity has supported program expansion and led to beneficial outreach to students from diverse majors.