Despite an Aging Population in U.S., Fewer Programs Are Training Gerontologists

By David Glenn

New Orleans

The growth of America's elderly population is about to accelerate. In 2011, the oldest members of the postwar baby boom will turn 65—and there are plenty of boomers right behind them. Today 40.2 million Americans are age 65 and older, but in 2020 the figure will be 54.8 million, the U.S. Census Bureau recently estimated.

Higher education, however, may not be rising to the occasion, according to an analysis presented here on Saturday during the annual meeting of the