Original Query: From Ed Gerritsen, Calvin College LLI, Grand Rapids, MI
We are trying to evaluate our membership fees & course registration fees over and against other LLIs about our size. We have approximately 425 members with about 360 taking courses. Would appreciate hearing from any LLIs re: your membership fees & course registration fees.

From Henry L. Schmitz Jr., Past President, Center for Lifetime Studies Poughkeepsie, NY
We have a membership fee of $135 per year, which covers the spring and fall terms as well as a winter mini-term. This fee covers your courses for these terms. No additional fees are charged for registration to individual courses unless they are for special books, etc. for the course. Our membership is in the high 300s-in the area of 375. I would need to check with the membership chair to get the exact number. The fee covers our rental for class room space, our administrative expenses, etc. Any special event trips such as a tour of older areas of New York City have additional fees.

From Sara Craven, Duke LLI, Durham, NC
We offer about 60 courses per semester. We do not have a yearly membership -- people renew their memberships each semester -- in other words, everyone who is a member in any given semester is taking classes. Our full membership is $125 and entitles one to take up to five classes. An associate membership for $75 entitles one to one class.

From Donna Bauer, Waukesha County Technical College/LIR, Pewaukee, WI
We have as a membership fee - $35 per person per year and $5.00 for each class. We have about 470 members currently but with new registrations after the holidays we'll reach 500 or more.

From Dick Di Vecchio, Lifetime Learners Institute, Norwalk CC, Norwalk, CT
We have a yearly membership fee of $15 per member with no spousal discount. Our academic year starts on June 1 of one year and ends May 31 of the next. This entitles members to free lectures once a week during the Spring and Fall terms and free courses during a shortened Winter term (with no registration). Courses are $10 each during the regular Spring and Fall terms. We have had from 675 to 775 members for each of the past three years. We have a very generous college, which does not charge for rooms and provides office space and copying free, and of course, that is a big determining factor in what we charge. If you need any other information, feel free to ask.

From Silvine Hudson, Retirement Learning at Vanderbilt, Vanderbilt University, TN
Our membership at Vanderbilt University is about 300 over the course of a year. We offer 7 or 8 courses per six-week term. Our "dues" are $60 per term, no annual dues. The $60 entitles one to take any or all of the courses that term. It also puts a person on the mailing list for one year. I think that you will find as many ways of structuring membership as there are LLIs. Your structure should just fit your membership. Ours likes the six-week term, and there are no objections to our dues structure. Over the course of a year, we will have offered 20 courses, as our winter and summer terms have only three or four offerings. In the summer, we use the Elderhostel-type format: three or four courses that meet every day for one week.