Although both are noncredit programs open to community members, the two programs vary in important ways. Lifelong Learning is open to adults 18 and over, and most classes are held weeknights or weekends.
The Osher Institute is a membership program exclusively for adults 50 and over. Students pay a membership fee that entitles them the full array of member benefits, to take courses at the Institute, and to attend special events and other activities for members. Osher classes are held during the day in easily accessible locations with ample parking. Courses are selected by a committee of members and teaching is tailored to meet the needs of the mature learner.
You can visit our Lifelong Learning home page, and search for your class either by subject or by using the search box. Once you find the class you want, you can simply add the class to your cart and checkout online on our secure website.
If you are not comfortable with online transactions, feel free to call us at 801-587-LIFE (5433) and we'll be happy to take your registration by phone.
You may register for most classes up to midnight the day before the class. Other classes have a one to two-week registration cutoff due to material sourcing. Registration cutoff is noted on each course page. However, we encourage early registration for the following reasons:
No. Anyone age 18 or older may take a Lifelong Learning class.
Classes are held at the main U campus as well as at U sites in Sandy. Many other community locations are used as well. Please see our Campus Locations page or Community Partners/Locations page for maps, hours, and courses offered at each location.
The room number for your class is posted on TVs near each entrance to the Continuing Education building at 540 Arapeen Drive. You can also check the Lifelong Learning website the night before your class to confirm the class location.
Free parking is available next to the Continuing Education building at 540 Arapeen Drive. No permit is required after 5 pm. For the latest information on parking on campus, check our Parking Information page. Check out the interactive campus map for directions to different campus locations
We encourage you to take public transit to your class. UTA buses 3, 223, 313, 455, and 473 have stops next to the Continuing Education building. You can find detailed information at rideuta.com.
No. Lifelong Learning classes are affordably priced so the whole community can benefit.
If you are a benefits-eligible University of Utah employee with more than six months of employment, you may use your 50% tuition reduction for Lifelong Learning classes. Contact the Benefits Office at 801-581-7447 with questions about your eligibility.
You must complete the Tuition Reduction Application, which may be found at this page. This form needs to be completed once per semester.
If you are a benefits-eligible employee with more than one year of employment, your spouse may use your tuition reduction benefit for Lifelong Learning classes. A Tuition Reduction Application must be completed and may be found at this page. Contact the Benefits Office at 801-581-7447 with questions about your eligibility.
Great! Feel free to submit your idea using our online form.
Lifelong Learning language classes meet once a week for 2 hours. This means that a student could progress to Spanish II, for example, with just 9 hours of Spanish under his or her belt. Therefore, a Lifelong Learning level II class is much simpler than a high school or college level II. Take level I if you are a never-ever and level II if you have had some previous exposure to the language (greetings, counting, time, colors) but still consider yourself a beginner.
Most students take our level II language classes several times before progressing to level III, where the grammatical focus is generally on the past tense and vocabulary moves beyond travel basics. Lifelong Learning's most advanced level is called Intermediate/Advanced; at this level, you should be able to conjugate common verbs in the present, past, and future tenses and have a vocabulary that allows you to converse at a basic level on common topics. Intermediate/Advanced classes are generally taught entirely in the language being studied.
Fill out our online form, or call 801-587-LIFE (5433) and leave your name and address with the registration person or on the machine. A catalog will be mailed to you within 24 hours. Catalogs are also available in the Continuing Education building, each U site, and at selected locations around town. You can also download a PDF of our most recent catalog here.
We do not provide students with our instructors' phones or email addresses. We will, however, take your contact information and relay that to the instructor, who will contact you. Please call 801-587-LIFE(5433) to request to have an instructor call or email you.
You may be added to Lifelong Learning's email list or regular mailing list. Please call 801-587-LIFE or email lifelong@continue.utah.edu to request to be added to either or both lists. If you just want to receive our e-mails, you can sign up online here.
Call 801-587-LIFE(5433). You may also submit your questions by using our online form.
The Covid-19 pandemic has caused Lifelong Learning to pause and rethink its certificate offerings. Our certificate program is designed for hands-on learning and the restrictions placed upon us with regards to class sizes, distancing between participants, and number of in-person experiences has made it difficult for us to continue with the program as originally conceived. It is because of this that we are no longer accepting new students into this program.
We plan to offer a new, community-focused series of skill-building courses designed to help you follow a path of deep and concentrated exploration. We will announce our plans in our weekly email newsletter and on social media. Follow us and join our email list to be the first to know!
Since you have already enrolled, you can still complete your certificate and we are continuing to offer the curriculum. We will honor your commitment to building this skill and plan to continue offering the curriculum as best we can until everyone has completed it.
We are doing everything we can to program the classes you need to complete your certificate but ask for your patience as we work within our new Covid-19 constraints. Some classes are incredibly challenging to conduct safely in our current environment. We are working on solutions to this and will notify those on the waitlist for the course as soon as it is available.
We are also extending the deadline for certificate completion. You are no longer limited to three years to complete the program. We know that you don’t want it to take longer than three years so we are doing everything we can to keep the delay to a minimum.
If you have questions about what you still need to take to complete the certificate and if we may have substitute classes, please email us and we will look into your specific inquiry. We have updated the list of electives on our website as well: https://continue.utah.edu/lifelong/digital-photography-certificate or at https://continue.utah.edu/lifelong/western-horticulture
Unfortunately, no. We are subject to the academic policies of the University of Utah, so it isn't possible to register to register someone other than yourself for a class. Instead, we suggest you have your friend register themselves, or email us at lifelong@continue.utah.edu to discuss possibilities for holding seats for multiple people.
We do not offer gift cards at this time, but you can email us at lifelong@continue.utah.edu to discuss alternate methods for gifting a class to someone.