Abstract
Through the centuries, universities have reflected the spirit of contemporary societies. Demographic and technological projections for the 21st century will require restructuring for the institutions to survive. Specifically, forecasters predict that continued declining birth rates and widespread adoption of distance learning will translate into fewer young campus residents. At the same time, we can expect more adult learners to head back to campus in order to update skills. In addition, university residential facilities appear to be well suited for the needs of aging baby boomers. An increasing number of institutions now offer retirement facilities on campus to retired graduates. Other institutions will find that that they can survive declining youth enrollments by converting their facilities for use by the aging. This article summarizes emerging trends and describes how institutions can best adapt their campus to an aging society.