Lloyd Huck, a retired chairman of the board of Merck & Co., could afford to retire anywhere in the world, but two years ago he chose to live near his beloved alma mater: Pennsylvania State University.

Huck, 83, is now living out his golden years as vigorously as he did on campus 60 years ago: He's taking an astronomy class, attends football games, enjoys theater and opera, and chats with students as he strolls the elm-shaded campus.

''We didn't want to go to Florida, and our friends were dying off in Morristown, N.J., so we decided we needed younger friends," Huck said.

Like Huck and his wife, Dottie, nearly 70 percent of the 200 residents at The Village at Penn State, an 80-acre retirement community that overlooks Beaver Stadium, are either alumni or retired faculty. They are also part of a growing trend of seniors paying tens of thousands of dollars to live their twilight years near a university campus.

Spurred by growing research suggesting that mental activity fights off dementia, college-affiliated retirement communities have sprung up in 50 college towns across the country, linking the retired set with schools such as Notre Dame, the University of Florida at Gainesville, the University of Michigan, and Lasell College in Newton, according to Leon A. Pastalan, professor emeritus of architecture at the University of Michigan.

''If you look at traditional retirement communities, they do not provide much for personal growth," said Pastalan, who studies housing issues for older adults. ''They provide you with a nice place to live, but there is really nothing for the soul or for self-enrichment. I view this as an extremely important movement that is really just beginning."

For seniors, returning to their college campus brings back old memories of a seemingly care-free time when they met classmates and were just beginning to think seriously about their careers.

READ: Seniors opting to retire with a touch of class

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