Older members of the community are lining up to get another shot at college.

European theater, Iowa history and introductory Internet courses all will be covered in the College for Seniors program, sponsored by the ISU Office of Retirement Information and Planning.

Openings for the spring semester courses currently are available for the eight-week courses, which are offered to people 55 and older.

“We want to provide persons of that age an opportunity to continue their education,” said Betty Licht, secretary for the program.

Courses begin the week of March 18 and are offered in several locations in Ames and Des Moines, including the Northcrest and Green Hills Retirement Communities, Parks Library and the Scheman Building.

Craig Beer, curriculum chairman of the College for Seniors program, said it is important to offer courses to seniors.

“Senior people should keep their minds active,” said Beer, an ISU retiree. “And it’s an opportunity to take a subject that you may not have been able to take before.”

There are typically more than 400 registrants in the courses, Beer said, some of which are offered in response to current affairs.

“There is a big interest in the world religions class now,” he said. The course will most likely include information on the Middle East, he said

One course will be taught by former U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia Kenneth Quinn. Quinn, currently the president of the World Food Prize Foundation, will teach a course about the Vietnam War, the period during which he was an ambassador.

Because of increased demand for some courses, a waiting list and lottery system are in place for registration.

Courses include Beginning Computers, Introduction to the Internet, World Religions and Women in the Arts.

For the computer classes especially, Licht said 60 to 70 people register for the course, although the lab has only 19 computers.

There also is considerable demand for the course in alternative medicine, she said.

“We try to come up with a balance because there is a wide variety of interests,” Beer said,

Each course costs $40. A preview meeting for courses offered for the spring College for Seniors program is scheduled at 2 p.m. on Feb. 7 in the Scheman Building.