Adult and Continuing Education

The concept of continuing (or lifelong) education is of great importance to Americans. In 1991, 57 million Americans 17 years and older furthered their education through participation in part-time instruction, taking courses in universities, colleges, professional associations, government organisations or even churches and synagogues. Most participants in continuing or adult education have a practical goal: they want to update and upgrade their job skills. As a result of economic changes and the rapid advance of the "information age," the necessity to acquire new occupational skills has increased. Adult education thus fills a need of many Americans who want to improve their chances in a changing job market. This is one explanation for the continuing growth of adult education classes over the past several years. Of course, not all people who take courses in adult education do this for job-related purposes. Many simply want to broaden their knowledge or learn something they would enjoy doing such as printmaking, dancing, or photography.

Continuing education courses are provided mainly by community or junior colleges and mostly take place in the evenings. The types of courses adults enrol in range from hobby and recreational activities to highly specialised technical skills. Courses in business, health care and health sciences, engineering, and education are most popular. Most of these courses are taken by employees because the employer provided major support for educational programs, either by paying part of the fees, giving time off, or providing other incentives. While some 50 percent of all people in adult education are enrolled in programs sponsored by educational institutions, about 15 percent were sponsored directly by business and industry. Over 80 percent of all companies today conduct their own training programs. Many large corporations offer complete degree programs, and some even support their own technical and business colleges and universities.

In the 1980s about 5 million students took industry-sponsored university programs and roughly twice that number were involved in corporate education of some kind. A great many universities and colleges, public and private, also admit part-time students to their programs. Many offer evening courses so those who work can attend, and most institutions have summer semesters, as well. This way many American are able to earn a university degree, bit by bit, and year by year. State universities have long "taken education to the people" by setting up extension campuses in small towns, or largely rural areas. Therefore, someone at home in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, for example, will be able to take courses taught by professors from the University of Wisconsin’s main campus in Madison.