Then 50 years later, he returned. Since the late 1990s, Feldman has been hopping on the subway surface line to audit Penn undergraduate classes. It feels like it used to, he says, but with a few exceptions.

"I take notes the way I did back in the 1940s, but the kids today don't bother with notebooks and pens - they use laptop computers," Feldman said. "That made me realize that I'm in a new world."

Most seniors agree that technology has transformed the learning experience. Yet they say there are many other changes since their time on campus:

Students dress far more informally - and so do many professors. Few ties, few skirts, lots of jeans.

Course offerings are far more diverse, and more fun. Undergraduates are less focused on their future careers, more open to nontraditional possibilities.

What remains the same?

Students still complain about the workload and the food. Exams are stressful. Grades matter. Romance is alive and well.

The seniors' return to school also seems to increase their appreciation for their first educational experience. Feldman realizes how exceptional his professors were - and are. "I've had professors like Drew Faust, who's now the president of Harvard, and that was a privilege," said Feldman, who also praises distinguished history professors Jonathan Steinberg and Thomas Childers, both of whom have been particularly welcoming to seniors.

This year, it's Russian history that's rounding out this senior student's passion for learning. Yet he does far more listening than talking.

"The kids at Penn are paying about $50,000 a year to be there, so it's their show," Feldman says. "But I feel so fortunate that I can learn with them."

Penn professors have the option to allow auditing seniors in their classes. History professor Daniel Richter is one who flings open his classroom doors.

"I welcome the seniors," Richter said. "They ask great questions, they always seem deeply engaged with what's going on in class, and besides, they laugh at my jokes."

Richter's fall semester class in U.S. history has 60 students, including three senior auditors. "They bring a level of life experience that allows them to see things differently than 20-year-olds do. And they're never afraid to ask their questions."

Marvin Verman brings that life experience with him to Penn. Now 77, Verman came from Pittsburgh when he had the opportunity to earn a master's degree at Penn in architecture and to work under Louis Kahn. Verman's imprint includes Washington Square West and the 1200 block of Locust Street.

Today, the architect is officially retired. But not from learning.

"I've always wanted to plug up the holes in my education," he said.

Particularly in seminar courses, Verman had chances to interact with the undergrads, and recalls one class with only four students, all of them children of Soviet Jewish emigres. "I had been very active on behalf of Soviet Jews back in the 1970s, and I could share that with these kids. They really were fascinated."

Leila Verman, 76, a social worker with a background in community mental health, joined her husband as an auditor a few years after he signed on. She recalls a meaningful experience when she was paired with an undergraduate on a Holocaust writing project. "I'd worked on a mental health study with local survivors, so I had some real life experience to offer my undergraduate partner."

The intergenerational connection delights her. "These kids see that we grannies can be right there with them, still learning, still growing. That's a pretty powerful message."

Senior Auditing Programs