Rana Lee is different from other students. Instead of just following along in a textbook, the 68-year-old student shares stories with her classmates about what it was like to live through history.

“I can tell other students in history classes how it was because I actually witnessed it,” said Lee. “In my Sex and Relationships course, I told my classmates about what happened to my friend who had to give herself an abortion with a coat hanger before abortions were legal. The class was riveted.”

While her age may separate her from other students, Lee has just as much in common with them. A double major in black studies and women’s studies, she looks forward to graduating in May 2006. She avoids 8 a.m. classes and this summer she is studying abroad in Belize with other black studies students.

For the 250 SF State students over the age of 60, their life experience isn’t the only benefit to attending college. Tuition is only $3 for elder students who are California residents. Assistant Jean Ferguson said many of the students are retired or on a fixed income, so the financial perk makes college affordable.

Ferguson said the application process and admission requirements are the same for the over-60 crowd. Elder students can also apply for financial aid for living expenses and books.

“Everybody (at SF State) is here to learn,” Ferguson said. “Some of the over 60-and-older population are back in school to finish their degree. Some just want to stay in academia.”

For Lee, going back to school was a liberating experience. She started college at Northeastern University after she finished high school. School was challenging for her and after one year she dropped out and got married.

“My father had always told me I was too stupid for college,” said Lee. “I had gotten to a point in my where I felt like the only thing left for me to do in my life was be a grandmother to my grandchildren.”

A recovering addict, Lee has remained sober for 18 years with the help of Alcoholics Anonymous. Seeking a new purpose in life, she took her therapist’s advice and earned an associate’s degree from Contra Costa College. She was then offered admission to UC Berkeley but chose SF State because of the cheaper tuition. She also felt that SF State offered more courses that appealed to her interests.

But being a student over 60 does have its disadvantages, she added.

“Sometimes it is harder for me to retain information than the younger students in my classes,” said
Lee.

Lee puts up with sleep deprivation and said she sometimes she has to miss class because she is suffering too much pain from her hip and knee injuries.

Last spring she broke her foot after she stepped in a pothole on campus while marching against budget cuts. Lee also had her hip replaced after a 1981 automobile accident.

Despite these troubles Lee said she does not feel left out of student life at SF State.

“I am older than some of my professors,” she said. “It doesn’t matter how old you are, you are never too old to learn something new.”

Lee said returning to college proved to herself and her family that she has the intelligence and the stamina to be successful in academia. Her 3.69 GPA has made her eligible to be a member of the “Golden Key,” an international organization for students in the top 15 percent of their class.

“Going back to school has made me prouder of the person I am,” she said. “I have stimulated my friends and family to go back to school. I feel very young mentally.”