Missouri State Outreach

Continuing & Distance Education

Community Band is the most popular MSU 62 course

by

MSU 62 students play on with the Community Band

Bob Thurman, a retired emeritus MSU physics professor, is preparing for classes to start again in the fall. He’s not teaching — this time, he’s the student. Bob is an MSU 62 student enrolled in Missouri State University’s Community Band.

MSU 62 invites Missouri residents over the age of 62 to take a college course, tuition-free. Every semester, Bob uses his fee waiver to pay for his tuition in MSU 62’s most popular class, MUS 178. The course is rehearsal time for MSU’s community band. Bob and his wife are two of the band’s founding members.

“I play the cornet, an instrument very similar to the trumpet, but with a mellower tone quality.”

Bob Thurman holding the cornet near a sunny window overlooking downtown Springfield
Bob Thurman holding the cornet

Lifelong learning for a longtime musician

For Bob, music has been a lifelong education. His father was a high school band director, so Bob started learning instruments at an early age. His interest in community bands was rekindled during a sabbatical at Missouri University of Science and Technology in 1980, and when head of the MSU music department Bob Scott started a community band at MSU in the early 1980s, Thurman and his wife jumped at the chance to again make music as part of a community group.

“We have been members of the MSU Community Band ever since. We have also been members of the Republic Community Band which started at about the same time, and I have been a member of a brass quintet which also started about the same time.”
As an educator, Bob sees the value in many different forms of learning.

“Keeping mentally active after retirement through programs like MSU 62 provides enrichment and variety to one’s life without the pressure of needing the courses for occupational advancement.”

 

Two men playing instruments as part of band practice in the Wehr Band Hall
Band practice in the Wehr Band Hall

Missouri State expands MSU62 to include online classes.

Citizens age 62 and older can now log into MSU’s virtual classrooms. The MSU 62 program has expanded to include online courses. Missouri State University’s Adult Student Services offers MSU 62, a program offered for senior citizens to take classes tuition-free. As the name suggests, students must be at least 62 years old to participate.

Tuition and student services fees are waived for program participants. At MSU, in-state tuition costs $257 per credit hour. The cost of student service fees varies. While tuition and the student services fees are waived, students will need to pay for books, parking passes, textbooks, special course fees and any other supplies necessary.

Students are admitted to the university as non-degree seeking students. Classes can be taken for credit but cannot count towards a degree. When enrolling, advisors suggest students have the required prerequisites for a class and that there are still seats available –– most departments are willing to work with the program to find a place for students.

A group of senior students playing their flutes in the Wehr Band Hall
Band practice in the Wehr Band Hall

Popular course topics include:

  • MUS 178 Community Band
  • Foreign languages, including French, Italian, and Spanish
  • Art 225 Painting I
  • Art 223 Metals and Jewelry I 

Requirements

  • students will need to pay for books, parking passes, textbooks, special course fees and any other supplies necessary.
  • classes cannot count towards a degree.
  • only for non-degree seeking students.
  • seats must be available for the class.
  • students must be a Missouri resident

Ready to get started? 

Register for MSU 62
Contact Information
Adult Student Services
AdultStudentServices@MissouriState.edu
417-836-4126
Want to learn more about Missouri State Outreach? Follow along on our blog.