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Contemporary experiences of aging are diverse and do not necessarily reflect a process of irreversible decline. To account for this phenomenon, the relatively unexplored topic of retirees deciding to pursue higher education is studied. Based on analysis of findings that emerged as part of the author’s PhD dissertation in sociology, the paper undertakes a political and institutional reading of this social reality, describing the main characteristics of an unusual student population, and presenting an analysis of the forms that the retirees’ decisions and commitments take and their relationship to study.