As part of the America Association of Community College's national Plus 50 Initiative, these community colleges are offering courses geared toward preparing you for your encore career:

Joliet Junior College
Joliet Junior College offers workforce skills certificate programs to students over the age of 50 for new careers in high-growth jobs in health care and education.

Luzerne County Community College
Luzerne County Community College provides courses and services that encourage new job skills development as well as entrepreneurship for plus-50 students who want to start a new business venture.

Clover Park Technical College
Clover Park Technical College, located in Lakewood, Washington, will offer an environmental science program alongside a volunteer on-site project for baby boomers exploring sustainability. The program will apply classroom lessons while restoring wetlands, forests and an oak savannah.

Richland College
Richland College, which is part of the Dallas County Community College District, will assess learning needs for baby boomers, develop life-enhancing curricula for plus 50 students seeking to re-define their lives and offer opportunities to retrain experienced workers.

St. Louis Community College
St. Louis Community College, established and piloted workshops on four campuses that help plus-50 students who see retirement looming but are unsure what to do in the next phase of their lives. Travel study tours, art classes and many other topics, offered in a format for nondegree seeking students, enable baby boomers to reconnect with their interests.

Wake Technical College
Wake Technical Community College in Raleigh, North Carolina will centralize coursework and activities offered by three separate divisions under one organizational umbrella and offer afternoon college classes at convenient times that cater to plus 50 students.

Cape Cod Community College
Cape Cod Community College, located in West Barnstable, Massachusetts, plans to expand their current programs and develop a talent bank that matches plus 50 students with civic and service opportunities. The college has conducted focus groups and extensive surveys with baby boomers to identify courses and volunteer opportunities.

Central Florida Community College
Central Florida Community College, located in Ocala, Florida, will develop course offerings that will lead to new employment opportunities for plus 50 students, including online business classes, individual and corporate tax preparation courses, training in less physically demanding medical fields such as medical transcription and intergenerational computer courses.

Century College
Century College, located in White Bear Lake, Minnesota, will help baby boomers retiring from professional and supervisory positions apply their leadership skills as community volunteers. They will also help plus 50 professionals who've been downsized out of their current jobs with skill development courses in healthcare and technology that enable them to re-enter the workforce.

Clark College
Clark College, located in Vancouver, Washington, will redesign its small business development curriculum to offer second careers through business ownership at a wine and cooking school for wine hobbyists and food enthusiasts. In addition, a joint program with the Area Agency on Aging will train in-home caregivers.

Western Dakota Technical Institute's National Park Ranger Training
Western Dakota Technical Institute offers courses for boomers who want to become seasonal rangers and interpretative guides at national parks.

Santa Fe Community College Nursing Programs
Santa Fe Community College will offer a program that trains older nurses to become nursing instructors.