Via Elderhostel : Learning vacations on college campuses are inexpensive and a broadening experience.

My retired mother loves to drive across the country alone. But for not-so-intrepid travelers, Elderhostel is a better way to go.

Designed for active learners, Elderhostel Inc. is an international travel-based education program for people 60 and older. A spouse or companion over 50 is also eligible. There is no educational prerequisite, rates are inexpensive and students range from high school dropouts to Ph.D.s.

During one-week sessions, participants attend non-credit college-level courses on campuses and at other educational institutions. Programs often supplement three daily 90-minute classes with field trips and guest speakers. There are no tests or reading assignments. Instead, the program emphasizes education though lectures and peer interaction.

Besides no homework, the low cost of an Elderhostel stay makes it an attractive learning vacation. The average cost of a one-week program in the United States including tuition, lodging, meals, use of recreational facilities, all classes and many extracurricular activities is $245 per person. Sessions in Ventura County average $290 to $320. A commuter rate of $195 per person, which includes lunches, is available to local residents. In addition, scholarships or “hostelships” are available, based on financial need.

Accommodations range from dormitories or hotels to campgrounds. Students can sign up for optional side trips to local points of interest. And there are many opportunities to socialize with people from around the country.

Some people, such as Gertrude and Bernard Goldsmith of Camarillo’s Leisure Village, even find romance. The Goldsmiths, both 75, met in 1980 at an Elderhostel in Sitka, Alaska.

“You grow tired of being the widow and feeling like a fifth wheel wherever you go,” Gertrude Goldsmith said. “But at Elderhostel, I felt in touch because everybody is eating together and going to classes together.”

Bernard Goldsmith, a retired veterinarian from Maryland, was also widowed. After a bi-coastal courtship, they were married two years later.

Goldsmith particularly liked the “companionship and subject matter” of Elderhostel. For his wife, it was an “opportunity to travel to a new area and not be afraid to be alone. Some people find it very difficult to make independent travel plans. So Elderhostel is a wonderful way for people to visit a new area in the U. S. or overseas, without the fear of what they’ll do after they get there.”

In April, Elderhostelers concluded their Ventura Community College session at the Holiday Inn with two special guest speakers. Betty Friedan, author of “The Feminine Mystique,” told the students: “My belief is that people who come to Elderhostels are on the cutting edge. You’re creating the role model for this age group.”

Next, Elderhostel founder Marty Knowlton, 70, told the group that he established the program in 1975 after visiting four of his retired former university colleagues.

“They hated their perceived forced retirement,” he said, “and they had an absolute conviction that their minds were going to fail because they were getting older.”

To provide an outlet for seniors such as his friends, Knowlton conceived his continuing education program and modeled it after his experience with European youth hostels and folk schools in Scandinavia.

Knowlton said word of mouth has sold the program since its first session in New Hampshire with six students. Despite no advertising budget, Elderhostel has grown at a rate of 20% to 25% a year. Classes are operating in 42 countries and at more than 1,600 college campuses and other sites across the United States. Knowlton said 225,000 seniors are expected to participate in Elderhostel this year.

“The organization is based on the mental energy and enthusiasm of the people who attend it,” he said.

ELDERHOSTEL INFORMATION

Some Elderhostel sessions at Ventura County’s three sites are still open, but students should enroll at once. Catalogues are available in the reference sections of public libraries. Because registration is centralized, seniors should write or phone the Boston address. Local phone numbers are for information only. Elderhostel Inc., 75 Federal St., Boston 02110-1941. Phone (617) 426-8056, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. EST Mondays through Fridays.

Santa Paula Center and Glen Tavern Inn: June 23 to 29, 933-4216. Topics: “Contemporary Japan,” “China and the Modern World” and “Traditional Arts and Crafts.” July 28 to Aug. 3: “History of the American Musical Theater,” “Live Theater-Film Relationship” and “Theatrical Improvisation.”

Cal Lutheran University: July 14 to 20, 493-3236. Topics: “New Frontiers in Life History,” “A Scholastic Look at Genesis” and “Funny Photography and Other Contemporary Art Forms.”

Ventura Community College at the Holiday Inn in Ventura: Sept. 29 to Oct. 5, 654-6459. Topics: “The Channel Islands: American Galapagos,” “Pacific Rim: Future World Center?” and “The California Dream: Quest for Paradise.”