[NLA] Increased Number of Young Adults in Adult Education Programs

[David J. Rosen]

NLA Colleagues,

A colleague wrote me and gave permission to post her message to the NLA 
list:

 
"I am the director of an adult education program at a community college that normally serves between 700 to 800 
GED students per year.  Since 1986 I have seen a steady increase in the number of young adults wanting to enroll 
in GED Test Preparation classes.  At one point 47% of my enrollment was comprised of persons under the age of 20, 
yet my overall enrollment had not increased.  In other words, the older adult population was being displaced by 
the youth population.  The main complaint from the adults was that "kids" tended to be loud, boisterous and 
disruptive.  I solved the problem by offering youth-only classes, adult only classes, and mixed classes.  Surveys 
indicated that some adults enjoy being in the company of young people, whereas others prefer a more sedate learning 
environment.  Some youth, we found, enjoy the company of older adults whereas others want to be with their own age 
group.  By offering something for everyone, we were able to recapture our displaced older adults and the percent 
of young adult enrolled in the program declined from a high of 47% to 26%.

The problem I have encountered is in finding teachers that are good at working with young people.  Beyond that, 
the modifications to the program design have worked well for us.  

More recently, I have noticed a renewed increase in the numbers of young adults seeking to enroll in GED Test 
Preparation Classes.  Rumors abound that high schools would rather have some of their 'problem students' enroll 
in a GED program rather than stay on their campuses.

Chris Palacios  
cpalaci at delmar.edu "












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