Let Γ be a discrete group and p be a prime. One of the fundamental results in group cohomology is that H*(Γ, [ ]p) is a finitely generated [ ]p-algebra if Γ is a finite group [8, 24]. The purpose of this paper is to study the analogous question when Γ is no longer finite.

Recall that Γ is said to have finite virtual cohomological dimension (vcd) if there exists a finite index torion-free subgroup Γ′ of Γ such that Γ′ has finite cohomological dimension over ℤ [4]. By definition vcd Γ is the cohomological dimension of Γ′. It is easy to see that the mod p cohomology ring of a finite vcd-group does not have to be a finitely generated [ ]p-algebra in general. For instance, if Γ is a countably infinite free product of ℤ's, then H1(Γ, [ ]p) is not finite dimensional over [ ]p. The three most important classes of examples of finite vcd-groups in which the mod p cohomology ring is a finitely generated [ ]p-algebra are arithmetic groups [2], mapping class groups [9, 10] and outer automorphism groups of free groups [5]. In each of these examples, the proof of finite generation involves the construction of a specific Γ-complex with appropriate finiteness conditions. These constructions should be regarded as utilizing the geometry underlying these special classes of groups. In contrast, the result we prove will depend only on the algebraic structure of the group Γ.