Academic retirement no longer follows a consistent, predictable pattern. This trend demonstrates a need to rethink the nature of retirement in colleges and universities to better serve both individual professionals and their institutions.

This chapter offers guidance for making retirement an open topic for discussion, poses important questions prospective retirees should consider, and suggests a range of actions institutions can take to help academics make a successful transition into a fulfilling retirement.

The major findings of three studies conducted in 1979-80 for the Consortium on the Financing of Higher Education (COFHE), a group of 30 private colleges and universities, on the potential impact of extending the minimum age of mandatory retirement from 65 to 70 are presented. (MSE)

To advocate replacement of traditional tenure arrangements by fixed-term contracts is a misreading of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act amendments, and may threaten academic freedom. (Author/MSE)

The 1986 amendments to the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and tax reforms from that year will require changes in retirement policies in higher education, especially pension plans, because of the extension of nondiscrimination rules to all tax-deferred annuities. (Author/MSE)

Political, social, and legislative forces outside higher education orchestrated and directed congressional action to uncap the mandatory retirement age, paying little attention to the special nature of higher education. Lobbyists for higher education did not greatly affect the ultimate resolution. (Author/MSE)

An analysis of the impact of increasing the minimum mandatory retirement age on the retirement patterns of older adults across the entire economy suggests that because of the strong disincentives to work embedded in social security and many employee pensions, most workers will continue to retire in their early sixties. (MSE)

Uncapping the mandatory retirement age is unlikely to alter retirement age by much, but it will lead to substantially higher pensions for faculty members who continue to work. Institutions must monitor retirement-age behavior in order to restructure pension and other benefits appropriately to meet income and retirement objectives. (Author/MSE)

A study of the historical connection between pension, mandatory retirement age, and retirement behavior in higher education suggests that raising the mandatory retirement age from 65 to 70 will have relatively small, short-term effects on the retirement timing of tenured faculty members. (Author/MSE)

Tenure arrangements are long-term contracts. If their duration is clear, they will protect academic freedom, provide institutions with the flexibility needed to meet changing circumstances, and comply with age-discrimination laws. Policy for the termination of tenure must be redesigned to satisfy competing needs and goals. (Author/MSE)

As a result of the new tax law, many tax benefits have been reduced or eliminated, creating a number of financial challenges to colleges and universities. Most major sources of revenue are impaired, while some expenditures are likely to increase. Fund-raising methods, operating costs, and tuition payments will change. (MSE)

Late-career decisions are made by faculty who vary widely in career achievement, personal circumstances, and now, retirement patterns. (Contains 10 tables.)

A study of 65 doctoral programs in higher education indicates disturbing trends: (1) mergers into larger academic units; (2) significant decline in student diversity among rather stable populations; and (3) retirement of most tenured faculty within 10 years. Despite continuity and stability overall, these changes suggest a need for unified…