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Senior Citizen Students

Senior citizen students attend KU as non-degree seeking students for a variety of reasons. The below information will provide some basic guidance for your time as a Jayhawk.

Senior Citizen Rate

One of the benefits to taking classes as a senior citizen at KU is they can apply for the Senior Citizen Rate, which is a waiver of tuition and the Lawrence or Medical Center campus fee if they follow the below requirements: 

  • They are a Kansas Resident for tuition purposes. 
  • They are at least 60 years of age. 
  • They are admitted to KU as a non-degree seeking undergraduate or graduate student. (Any student who has previously been enrolled as a degree seeking student at KU may not enroll as a non-degree seeking student until completion of an undergraduate degree.) 
  • They only enroll in classes numbered under 800 
  • They enroll in 6 or fewer hours per semester 
  • They agree to receive a grade of NE (not evaluated) for all classes for any semester in which they are applying the senior citizen waiver 
  • They understand that services supported by the Lawrence campus fees cannot be utilized due to the fee being waived 
  • They submit the Senior Citizen Waiver request form by the 30th calendar day after the first day of classes for each semester requested. 

Please note that this waiver does not apply toward the Edwards Campus required fees. All other appropriate fees are assessed when applicable. 

If you choose not to utilize the Senior Citizen waiver you may want to review the information available at Auditing Students or Non-degree seeking students. 

New non-degree seeking students can begin enrolling in late April for the summer term, late July for the fall term, and early December for the spring term. Specific dates can be found on the Academic Calendar. New non-degree seeking students do not attend a New Student Orientation.   


To Prepare for Enrollment

  • Set-up your KU Online ID.
  • Set-up your KU Email and begin checking it often. 
  • Review the class schedule to view available classes and find any prerequisites required for the class(es) you want to enroll in. 
  • If a prerequisite is required submit the test scores or an official academic transcript to the Office of Admissions then email transfercredit@ku.edu to request to have necessary prerequisites placed on your KU student transfer record. 
  • University requirements such as instructor and departmental permission are applicable. Look for restricted entry courses marked with "Instructor Consent Required" or "Departmental Consent Required". When necessary, contact the department or instructor to obtain the necessary permission. 
  • Your program determines the maximum number of hours you can enroll in each semester. Most students with a bachelor’s degree already can take a maximum of 20 hours in the fall and spring and 10 hours in the summer. All other students can enroll in a maximum of 6 hours per semester.  
  • Generally Financial Aid and Scholarships are not available for non-degree seeking students. 
  • Some helpful guides can be found on the OUR Adding Classes and Schedule Changes pages.

After Enrolling