Changes in higher education employee benefit plans brought about by the extension of the mandatory retirement age to 70 are the focus of the monograph. Chapter one summarizes the volume and presents some major recommendations that institutions may find helpful in benefit and personnel planning. Chapter two sketches the meaning of the new law (1978 Amendments to the Age Discrimination in Employment Act). A brief statement of some considerations on cost and related implications for both employees and institutions is presented in chapter three. The fourth chapter discusses the need for setting a pre-70 retirement age and explains the concept of a "full service benefit" age. Early retirement, including alternative approaches, are explored in chapter five, which also cautions institutions on certain legal aspects of early retirement benefit arrangements. The final chapter reports on special issues in personnel planning. Appendices summarize the survey research, elaborate on the effects of postponed retirement on retirement income, and provide a sample procedure for determining staff age structures, age specific separation rates, and early retirement arrangement cost estimation. An annotated bibliography is also appended. (Author/PHR)