The impact on the age 70 mandatory retirement law on future employment opportunities and payroll costs of faculties of member institutions of the Consortium on Financing Higher Education (COFHE) was evaluated. Current and 5-year historical information on tenure-tract arts and science faculty of 27 of the COFHE institutions were analyzed. This includes data on over 8,400 active faculty as of January 1, 1979 and an additional 2,600 who have retired, died, or otherwise terminated during the last 5 years. Twenty-year faculty projections were also developed. Findings include the following: during the 1974-1978 period, the average ages for mandatory and nonmandatory retirements have remained relatively constant from year to year, at 67 and 63.6, respectively; and mandatory retirements account for about two-thirds of all retirements, and of these, the largest numbers occur at ages 65, 68, and 70, with just over half of the mandatory total occurring at age 65. It is projected that an extension of mandatory retirement to age 70 could result in as much as 57 percent of the faculty population teaching for another 1 to 5 years, with an overall average of about 3 additional years. The effect on opportunities for junior faculty openings and the availability of tenured faculty positions is noted. (SW)