Adult education and literacy programs in the United States provide the foundational skills that adults and youth need in order to pursue further education and career opportunities; ensure physical, socio-emotional, and financial well-being for themselves and their families; and participate fully in community life. Programs may include instruction in one or more of the following areas:

• Basic skills in reading, numeracy, writing, and digital skills for adults who experienced limited or interrupted formal schooling, or have development needs in these skill areas
• English oral communication and reading/writing for speakers of other languages (ESOL)
• High school equivalency test preparation (for example, GED preparation) and adult secondary completion (for example, the National External Diploma Program)
• Family literacy
• Citizenship test preparation and Integrated English Literacy and Civics Education (IELCE)
• Workforce preparation and integrated education and training (IET)

To make program participation possible and effective for adults managing the competing demands of family, workplace, and education, many adult education programs also provide one or more of the following wraparound services:

• Flexible scheduling
• Job and career counseling
• Child care
• Transportation

Adult Education Systems

In the United States, adult education is structured at the state level, with each state, plus the inhabited territories and the District of Columbia, determining how administration and oversight will be handled and how funding will be allocated. For example, the adult education office may be housed within the state’s K-12 education department, or within its community college or technical college division, or within the state labor department’s workforce development agency.

To find the adult education office and director for a specific state, visit the Directory of Adult Education State and Territory Directors on the website of the National Association of State Directors of Adult Education.

Adult education courses and programs can be provided by a variety of organizations, including community colleges, school districts, community centers, libraries, community-based nonprofits, and adult secondary schools. Providers range from formal programs with salaried professional teachers and staff, to community-based organizations that offer basic literacy classes in conjunction with housing, job counseling, and other social supports, to all-volunteer tutoring taking place through community centers and houses of worship.

To find adult education programs by city and state, visit the National Literacy Directory.

Federal Support for Adult Education

The federal government supports adult education through three main initiatives: the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), the Higher Education Act (HEA), and the Carl T. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act (Perkins V). WIOA provides funding support for adult education programs. HEA and Perkins provide funding support for adult learners.

Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act

The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014 (WIOA) has three purposes:

• To increase, for individuals in the United States, particularly those individuals with barriers to employment, access to and opportunities for the employment, education, training, and support services they need to succeed in the labor market.
• To support the alignment of workforce investment, education, and economic development systems in support of a comprehensive, accessible, and high-quality workforce development system in the United States.
• To improve the quality and labor market relevance of workforce investment, education, and economic development efforts to provide America’s workers with the skills and credentials necessary to secure and advance in employment with family-sustaining wages and to provide America’s employers with the skilled workers the employers need to succeed in a global economy.

Source: https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/house-bill/803/text

WIOA brings together educational programs overseen by the U.S. Department of Education and employment-related training programs overseen by the U.S. Department of Labor, with the goal of creating a coordinated system. As the purposes stated above make clear, the overall focus is on enabling adults to obtain the skills and qualifications required for effective participation in the workforce.

Higher Education Act, Pell Grants, and Ability to Benefit

The Higher Education Act (HEA) is the main federal law that supports postsecondary-level education for low-income learners. It establishes financial aid programs for learners pursuing education after high school, and it defines the rules that institutions of higher education must follow to be eligible for federal student aid. HEA was last reauthorized in 2008, and has been operating on the basis of temporary extensions ever since.

Title IV of HEA establishes the Pell grant program to make postsecondary tuition more accessible for low-income learners. To be eligible for a Pell grant, applicants must complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form to demonstrate financial need. They must also meet other criteria, including U.S. citizenship, enrollment status (full time or part time), and academic standing (good grades).

Aspects of HEA relevant to adult education

• Ability to Benefit: HEA Title IV includes three Ability to Benefit (AtB) alternatives that make Pell grants available to adults and youth who have not (yet) received a high school diploma or recognized equivalent (such as a GED). To be eligible, a learner must be enrolled in both an “eligible career pathway program” and an adult education program. This is called “concurrent enrollment,” “co-enrollment,” or “dual enrollment.” The term “ability to benefit” refers to the idea that the grant recipient can demonstrate the ability to benefit from concurrent enrollment through one of the alternative processes.
• Short-Term Pell: HEA currently limits Pell grant eligibility to learners who are enrolled in an undergraduate degree or certificate program of at least 600 hours of instruction offered over at least 15 weeks. For several years Congress has been considering an amendment to HEA that would allow learners to receive Pell grants for programs of 150 or more hours of instructional time offered over at least 8 weeks. The availability of such “short-term Pell” grant support would increase access to many types of career and technical education programs for low-income adult learners.

More Information

• For more information on the Higher Education Act, visit the Renewing the Higher Education Act page on the website of the American Council on Education.
• For more information on Pell grants and the criteria for Pell grant eligibility, visit the Introduction to Pell Grants page on the ACT Education website.
• For an explanation of the history and current status of short-term Pell, read Pell Grants for Short-Term Programs: Background and Legislation in the 118th Congress from the Congressional Research Service [pdf].
• For more information on Ability to Benefit, visit Ability to Benefit: Dual Enrollment and the Ability to Benefit Resource Page on the National College Transition Network website.
• For a concise explanation of Ability to Benefit, read Ability to Benefit: Overview from the Center for Law and Social Policy [pdf]

Perkins V and CTE

The federal government’s primary investment in career and technical education (CTE) comes through the Carl T. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act. This act was reauthorized in 2018 as the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (SCATE), and is commonly known as Perkins V (“Perkins Five”) because it is the fifth iteration of this law.

The Perkins Act defines its purpose as “to develop more fully the academic knowledge and technical and employability skills of secondary education students and postsecondary education students who elect to enroll in CTE programs and programs of study.“ The law is intended to promote state-level development and implementation of career and technical education pathways that are articulated from the secondary to the postsecondary level and align with in-demand occupations identified by employers and other state-level stakeholders. A CTE program of study must integrate academic and technical content, align with state standards for the secondary level, and end in attainment of a postsecondary credential.

Aspects relevant to adult education:

• CTE programs provide opportunities for learners to participate in concurrent enrollment, in which they complete postsecondary courses while still working toward high school completion. This opportunity is available to qualified learners who are pursuing a high school equivalency through GED, National External Diploma Program, or other equivalency option.
• Section 3 of Perkins V proactively includes a significant percentage of participants in adult education by adding to the law’s purpose “increasing the employment opportunities for populations who are chronically unemployed or underemployed, including individuals with disabilities, individuals from economically disadvantaged families, out-of-workforce individuals, youth who are in, or have aged out of, the foster care system, and homeless individuals.’’

For more information on Perkins V, visit these websites:

• Advance CTE
• The Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE)
• The Perkins Collaborative Resource Network (PCRN)