ADULT EDUCATION FACTS

• Adult education serves adults 16 years of age and older who are no longer in school and are functioning below the high school completion level. • According to the National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NCES 2005) more than 90 million adults (45 percent of the population) may not have the skills to participate in family, work and community opportunities. • In 1950, 60 percent of all jobs were classified as “unskilled” and available to those with a high school diploma or less. Now more than 80 percent of jobs are skilled, requiring education and training beyond high school. • Prison inmates who attempt to earn GEDs or take post-secondary course work while in prison have lower rates of recidivism than other prisoners. • Two in five youths between the ages of 16 and 24 who drop out of school receive public assistance. Among adults 43 percent of the people who are not proficient readers live in poverty. Of those who are proficient readers, 4 percent live in poverty. • Investment in adult education results in higher salaries, enhanced job security, greater business productivity, increased consumer spending, increased tax revenues and decreased drain on social program services. Source: Career Pathways to Jobs with Family Sustaining Incomes through the Adult Education and Literacy Services