For the last three years, Ruth Enloe has enrolled in two or three English classes each semester at Sacramento State.

But Enloe, who will turn 80 in December, had a slight setback last March when she suffered a stroke. She refused to let it keep her down for long and, in August, she came back to enroll in Early British Literature, with plans to take more classes in the spring.

&This is part of my therapy to keep me mentally alert and thinking,& she said. &It opens my mind and my heart.&

Enloe is just one of more than 200 students over the age of 60 who attend Sac State. The Sixty Plus Fee Waiver Program is open to any California resident and is available at most California State Universities, said Nancy Lewis, the coordinator for re-entry services.

Each participant may enroll in as many classes as they like for only $3 a semester. In addition, most of the major fees are waived. Students only have to pay for their books and parking permits.

&It gives them opportunities for learning they may not have had when they were younger,& Lewis said.

The program was created in 1979, from the California Legislature SB24. It authorized California State University trustees to institute a program where people 60 years and older can enroll in regular classes on a space available status. As long as the class has space available for the students, they may enroll in it.

Lewis said the program began at Sac State in the spring of 1980. At that time, the school was only allowed to admit 40 people to the program.

In the fall of 1981, when the restriction was lifted, over 100 people enrolled. By the mid-1990s there were between 200 and 250 people involved each semester. The highest number was in 1999 when 250 students were taking classes.

Students involved in the fee waiver program have options to choose from, Lewis said. If they are an undergraduate student, they can choose to finish a degree, take classes for credit, but not follow a program or they can choose to simply audit their classes.

If a student is already a graduate, he or she can either go into a master&s program or audit. When choosing to audit a class, the student is not responsible for tests, assignments or papers.

&We assume they will do their homework and are serious students and they are there because they want to learn,& Lewis said.

Lewis said that about half of the students audit and the other half take for credit. Most of the students, she added, already have degrees from previous colleges.

&They enjoyed school when they were 20 and are looking forward to going back at 60,& Lewis said. &They look forward to the structure learning environment. There are also some people who never had the opportunity to finish a degree because life intervened and they enjoy the opportunity to finish what they started.&

Merick Chaffee, 78, is a familiar figure on campus. Chaffee has taken classes in the fee waiver program since 1989.

He came to Sac State because he wanted access to the library. After working many years for the state of California, Chaffee decided it was time for a change. An avid reader and artist, he learned about the fee waiver program shortly after and enrolled in his first class, Magic, Witchcraft and Religion.

Since then, Chaffee said he has lost count of the number of units he has taken and the classes he has completed.

&I&ve done this for quite awhile,& Chaffee said. &I&ve developed a real appreciation for what this school has done for me. I&m like a kid in the candy store. Taking classes has expanded my interests.&

Education is nothing new for Chaffee. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in economics with a minor in English from San Diego State University. He has also taken art classes at Sacramento City College.

Chaffee said he tries to get to know all of his professors in the classes he enrolls in, and to contribute a different perspective in his class discussions.

&It&s expanding the mental world I live in tremendously, and I think that is what people need,& he said. &It&s important to vigorously exercise both your body and your mind.&

Meanwhile, Louise Backus, 63, is a relative newcomer to the program. This is her second semester at Sac State, and she is enrolled in a literature course.

&I like to read and it&s nice to get different opinions on authors and what they mean,& she said. &Some of these books, too, are kind of difficult to read and it&s nice to have a discussion on them.&

She received her Bachelor of Arts in interdisciplinary social science from San Francisco State in 1975 where, she said, demonstrations against the Vietnam War often occurred.

Backus said she enjoys being at Sac State, because there is always so much going on. One downfall, she said, is that the school is so crowded.

&It&s like a river,& she said with a laugh. &And you just have to keep to your space.&

Enloe received a Bachelor of Arts in liberal studies with a minor in journalism from a college in Georgia. A resident in a senior complex, she said she joined the fee waiver program because she was always around people with aches and pains who were not very happy.

&I said, &you&ve got to let me into this program or else I&m going to shoot myself,& & she said with a laugh. &I like the mental stimulation and the association with bright little minds. And you can&t beat the cost anywhere for any type of entertainment.&