COLUMBIA, S.C. — Erin McKinney, who teaches nursing at USC, decided in September to take a course outside her discipline.

"I've worked at the university 11 years and had never taken a class," she said.

"Another reason to take the class was to see if I can do it. The first day of class, I was nervous; my heart was pounding."

She enrolled in Walter Edgar's South Carolina history course that covers the state's history through the Civil War.

McKinney was one of several older, nontraditional students in Edgar's class in the fall semester.

She was not seeking a degree but took it for credit because she wanted to ensure she did all the course work.

McKinney had another motivation to do well; her daughter, Katie, also was taking the course. Katie's minor is in history, and the two studied and did research together.

McKinney believes she will be part of a wave of retirees who will use their time in retirement for intellectual pursuits.

"In nine more years, I can just retire and go to school all the time," she said.

She's auditing a survey of religion course in the spring.

Edgar said he likes having older students in the classroom mix.

"Having nontraditional students in class is great.

"They are very interested in what they are doing, they do their assignments, and they write beautifully," Edgar said. "They bring something to the class that 18-, 19-year-olds may not in terms of background, knowledge."

According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, 50 colleges nationwide, including Stanford University and the University of Michigan, are creating housing on or near campus for interested retirees.

Private colleges like Furman University in Greenville, S.C., also are tailoring programs to attract retirees.

"The Furman University Learning in Retirement program has been tremendously successful," said Furman spokesman Vince Moore. "It started in the fall of 1993 with seven courses and 62 students. This fall, FULIR enrolled 634 students and offered 78 courses."

The 3,000th member of the program will enroll this winter, Moore said. Members are raising money to build their own facility on campus.

John Crabtree, an English professor at Furman, retired in 1992 but continues to teach in the retirement program — and to take classes in it as well.

"These older students are very highly motivated, very bright, and they are there because they want to be there," Crabtree said. "It's a very active teaching and learning situation. You don't have to give exams. They are really marvelous students."

Last term he taught a class of 90 students about three plays by Shakespeare, two of which are not very well known.

"I find it very exciting. I have taken a class, too, and I enjoyed it enormously," he said.

In the program, the students determine the curriculum, and they know what they want to study, Crabtree said.

"They get involved in the community because of this program. I know people who come in and find out that some of the public schools are looking for adjunct teachers, to coach reading and other subjects."

They become great supporters of local theater, of the arts, and they get involved. That's the key," he said. "They have a wonderful time, and they get involved. Many of them study Spanish. These are very vigorous and vital people."

Many people in the program are retired CEOs, doctors, lawyers and college professors, and some also teach courses.

The Greenville university also is providing land for The Woodlands at Furman, a $43 million state-of-the-art continuing care retirement community.

It will be the first university-linked senior living community in the state.

"We expect the FULIR program to grow even larger when The Woodlands at Furman is up and running," Moore said.