Overview

The Federal government has been involved in adult education for well over 200 years. The nature and extent of Federal attention to the needs of adult learners has varied over this period, but, from its earliest days, the government provided funds to establish, encourage, and expand programs to assist adults in overcoming educational deficiencies, which would hinder productive and responsible participation in the life and growth of the nation.

At the state level, evening schools for adults, part-time education, citizenship/Americanization classes for the foreign-born and the Chautauqua experience were fore runners of the State/Federal adult education movement. State histories give evidence of organized adult education as early as the 18th century.

However, it was not until the early 1960's, in the Kennedy administration that poverty and adult literacy became a concern. Building on Kennedy's efforts, President Lyndon Johnson and a sympathetic Congress launched a series of programs to end poverty and increase the role of the Federal government toward the improvement of education. With the passage of the Economic Opportunity Act (August 20, 1964), Title II B of Public Law 88-452 created the first Adult Basic Education program as a state grant. The 1964 Federal legislation established a state and Federal partnership to focus on the most basic of educational skills for adults who had not completed secondary education. Funding for states that first year was $18.6 million. In 1965, there were 37,991 adults enrolled nationally in what was known as ABE (Adult Basic Education). At times, Federal efforts have been disjointed; sometimes they overlapped with other similar programs. But, throughout the past forty years, there have been continuous programs focused on increasing adult literacy skills through the Adult Education Act.