Essays
Adult Education
Adult education prepares adults from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds for
educational and career advancement. In the 1860s, the first documented adult
educational program in the United States, organized by the post–Civil War Freed-
men’s Bureau, promoted literacy and civil rights for newly freed African Americans.
Each year, the number of adults enrolling in colleges and universities in the United
States increases. Many of the adults who choose to enroll in college are African
American, Asian American, Latino/a American or Native American. As the United
States becomes increasingly diverse, the involvement of more educated people of
color in the labor market is inevitable. (Valentin Armianu/Dreamstime.com)
