02:37 PM MDT on Monday, October 18, 2004

Associated Press

BOISE -- By the year 2020, one quarter of Idaho's population will be 60-years-old or older.

Now Boise State University has started the Center for the Study of Aging.

The center will research topics including estate planning, elder abuse and health care policy. Students can earn a graduate certificate in gerontological studies.

James Girvan is the dean of Boise State's College of Health Sciences.

He says the center opening is especially timely because members of the baby boomer generation will begin retiring in just seven years.

The center is funded with a federal grant.

School officials and Senator Larry Craig announced its creation today during a listening session held in preparation for next year's White House Conference on Aging.