National Household 

Education Surveys 

Program of 2005 

Adult Education 

Participation in 

2004-05 

E.D. TAB

May 2006 

Kevin O’Donnell 

Westat 

Chris Chapman 

Project Officer 

National Center for 

Education Statistics 

U.S. Department of Education 

NCES 2006-077 
U.S. Department of Education

Margaret Spellings 

Secretary

Institute of Education Sciences

Grover J. Whitehurst 

Director

National Center for Education Statistics

Mark Schneider 

Commissioner

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is the primary federal entity for collecting, analyzing, 

and reported data related to education in the United States and other nations. It fulfills a congressional 

mandate to collect, collate, analyze, and report full and complete statistics on the condition of education in 

the United States; conduct and publish reports and specialized analyses of the meaning and significance of 

such statistics; assist state and local education agencies in improving their statistical systems; and review 

and report on education activities in foreign countries. 

NCES activities are designed to address high priority education data needs; provide consistent, reliable, 

complete, and accurate indicators of education status and trends; and report timely, useful, and high quality 

data to the U.S. Department of Education, the Congress, the states, other education policymakers, 

practitioners, data users, and the general public. 

We strive to make our products available in a variety of formats and in language that is appropriate to a 

variety of audiences. You, as our customer, are the best judge of our success in communicating information 

effectively. If you have any comments or suggestions about this or any other NCES product or report, we 

would like to hear from you. Please direct your comments to: 

 National Center for Education Statistics 

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 Washington, DC 20006-5651 

 

May 2006 

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Suggested Citation

O’Donnell, K. (2006). Adult Education Participation in 2004-05 (NCES 2006-077). U.S. Department of 

Education. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics. 

For ordering information on this report, write to 

U.S. Department of Education 

ED Pubs 

P.O. Box 1398 

Jessup, MD 20794-1398 

or call toll free 1-877-4ED-Pubs or order online at http://www.edpubs.org. 

Content Contact: 

Chris Chapman 

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nhes@ed.gov

http://nces.ed.gov/nhes/
iii 

Acknowledgments 

The author wishes to thank Christopher Chapman, Valena Plisko, Marilyn Seastrom, Duc-Le To, Lisa 

Hudson, and Tracy Hunt-White at the U.S. Department of Education and Matthew DeBell at the American 

Institutes for Research for their technical reviews and helpful suggestions. Mary Hagedorn, Priscilla Carver, 

Iheoma Iruka, and Soumya Alva at Westat also provided input and suggestions in the preparation of this report. 

Finally, the author wishes to thank the many adults who responded to the Adult Education Survey of the 2005 

National Household Education Surveys Program for their responses on which the report is based.
iv 

This page is intentionally blank. 
v 

TABLE OF CONTENTS 

Section Page 

Acknowledgments................................................................................................................. iii 

Highlights ......................................................................................................................... 1 

References ............................................................................................... 5 

Appendix A: Technical Notes ................................................................................................... 43

Appendix B: Glossary................................................................................................................ 47 

LIST OF TABLES 

Table Page 

1 Percentage of adults who participated in adult education, by type of 

educational activity and selected adult characteristics: 2004-05 ....................... 7 

1a Standard errors of the percentage of adults who participated in adult 

education, by type of educational activity and selected adult 

characteristics: 2004-05 ..................................................................................... 9 

2 Number and percentage of adults who gave selected reasons for 

participation in English as a Second Language classes: 2004-05...................... 11 

2a Standard errors of the number and percentage of adults who gave 

selected reasons for participation in English as a Second Language 

classes: 2004-05................................................................................................. 11 

3 Number and percentage of adults who gave selected reasons for 

participation in basic skills or GED preparation classes: 2004-05 .................... 12 

3a Standard errors of the number and percentage of adults who gave 

selected reasons for participation in basic skills or GED preparation 

classes: 2004-05................................................................................................. 12 

4 Number and percentage of adults who gave selected reasons for 

participation in formal work-related courses or training: 2004-05 .................... 13 

4a Standard errors of the number and percentage of adults who gave 

selected reasons for participation in formal work-related courses or 

training: 2004-05................................................................................................ 13 
vi 

LIST OF TABLES (Continued) 

Table Page

5 Percentage of employed adults enrolled part-time in college or university 

degree or certificate programs or vocational or technical diploma, degree, 

or certificate programs who reported selected forms of employer support: 

2004-05.............................................................................................................. 14 

5a Standard errors of the percentage of employed adults enrolled part-time 

in college or university degree or certificate programs or vocational or 

technical diploma, degree, or certificate programs who reported selected 

forms of employer support: 2004-05 ................................................................. 14 

6 Percentage of employed adults enrolled in formal work-related courses 

or training who reported selected forms of employer support, by selected 

adult characteristics: 2004-05 ............................................................................ 15 

6a Standard errors of the percentage of employed adults enrolled in formal 

work-related courses or training who reported selected forms of 

employer support, by selected adult characteristics: 2004-05 ........................... 17 

7 Percentage of adults reporting zero dollars in expenses for adult learning 

activities and median out-of-pocket expenses for adult learning activities, 

by type of learning activity: 2004-05................................................................. 19 

7a Standard errors of median out-of-pocket expenses for adult learning 

activities, by type of learning activity: 2004-05 ................................................ 19 

8 Number and percentage of adults who participated in English as a 

Second Language classes, basic skills or GED preparation classes, 

formal work-related courses or training, or personal-interest courses, by 

type of provider: 2004-05 .................................................................................. 20 

8a Standard errors of the number and percentage of adults who participated 

in English as a Second Language classes, basic skills or GED preparation 

classes, formal work-related courses or training, or personal-interest 

courses, by type of provider: 2004-05 ............................................................... 20 

9 Number and percentage of adults who took English as a Second 

Language classes, by type of provider: 2004-05 ............................................... 21 

9a Standard errors of the number and percentage of adults who took English 

as a Second Language classes, by type of provider: 2004-05............................ 21 

10 Number and percentage of adults who took basic skills or GED 

preparation classes, by type of provider: 2004-05 ........................................... 22 

10a Standard errors of the number and percentage of adults who took basic 

skills or GED preparation classes, by type of provider: 2004-05 .................... 22 
vii 

LIST OF TABLES (Continued) 

Table Page

11 Number and percentage of adults who took formal work-related courses 

or training, by type of provider: 2004-05........................................................... 23 

11a Standard errors of the number and percentage of adults who took formal 

work-related courses or training, by type of provider: 2004-05 ........................ 23 

12 Number and percentage of adults who took personal-interest courses, by 

type of provider: 2004-05 .................................................................................. 24 

12a Standard errors of the number and percentage of adults who took 

personal-interest courses, by type of provider: 2004-05.................................... 24 

13 Average classroom instructional hours or credit hours for adults enrolled 

in adult educational activities over the past 12 months: 2004-05...................... 25 

13a Standard errors of average classroom instructional hours or credit hours 

for adults enrolled in adult educational activities over the past 12 months: 

2004-05.............................................................................................................. 25 

14 Percentage of adults enrolled in formal work-related courses or training 

who reported specific numbers of classroom instructional hours in the 

past 12 months, by selected adult characteristics: 2004-05 ............................... 26 

14a Standard errors of the percentage of adults enrolled in formal workrelated courses or training who reported specific numbers of classroom 

instructional hours in the past 12 months, by selected adult 

characteristics: 2004-05 ..................................................................................... 28 

15 Percentage of adults enrolled in personal-interest courses who reported 

specific numbers of classroom instructional hours in the past 12 months, 

by selected adult characteristics: 2004-05 ......................................................... 30 

15a Standard errors of the percentage of adults enrolled in personal-interest 

courses who reported specific numbers of classroom instructional hours 

in the past 12 months, by selected adult characteristics: 2004-05 ..................... 32 

16 Number and percentage of adults participating in adult education 

activities who reported using any type of distance education method in 

the past 12 months, by selected adult characteristics: 2004-05 ......................... 34 

16a Standard errors of the number and percentage of adults participating in 

adult education activities who reported using any type of distance 

education method in the past 12 months, by selected adult characteristics: 

2004-05.............................................................................................................. 36 
viii 

LIST OF TABLES (Continued) 

Table Page

17 Number and percentage of adults who reported participating in informal 

learning activities for personal interest, by type of educational activity 

and selected adult characteristics: 2004-05........................................................ 38 

17a Standard errors of the number and percentage of adults who reported 

participating in informal learning activities for personal interest, by type 

of educational activity and selected adult characteristics: 2004-05................... 40 
1 

Highlights 

This report presents selected data on adults’ participation in educational activities in the United 

States, excluding full-time only enrollments in college/university or vocational/technical credential programs, 

over a 12-month period from 2004-05. Historically, full-time only participation in postsecondary (college and 

vocational) programs has not been considered adult education. For this reason, and for comparability with 

previous reports of adult education based upon NHES surveys, full-time only enrollments are not included in 

the estimates for participation in college/university and/or vocational/technical credential programs or in the 

overall estimate of adult education participation. 

These data are from the Adult Education Survey of the 2005 National Household Education Surveys 

Program (AE-NHES:2005). Interviews were conducted with a nationally representative sample of the civilian, 

non-institutionalized population age 16 or older who were not enrolled in grade 12 or below. Data were 

collected from early January through April 2005. A total of 8,904 telephone interviews were completed with 

adults representing a weighted total of 211,607,007. The weighted overall unit response rate was 47.6 percent 

(the product of the Screener unit response rate [66.9%] and the Adult Education unit response rate [71.2%]) 

and item nonresponse rates for most of the variables were 3 percent or lower. Additional details about the 

survey, response rates, and other technical issues are provided in appendix A. 

For the AE-NHES:2005 survey, formal adult educational activities were defined by the presence of 

an instructor, whereas informal adult educational learning activities taken for personal interest did not have an 

instructor. The AE-NHES:2005 survey was the first administration of an NHES survey to focus on both 

formal adult educational activities and on informal learning activities for personal interest. 

Information was collected on participation in formal adult educational activities such as English as a 

Second Language (ESL) classes; basic skills or General Educational Development (GED) preparation classes; 

college or university degree or certificate programs; vocational or technical school diploma, degree, or 

certificate programs; apprenticeship programs; work-related courses or training that were not part of a college or 

vocational degree, diploma, or certificate program or an apprenticeship program; and personal-interest courses. 

In addition, adults were asked about participation in informal learning activities for personal interest (see 

appendix B - Glossary for definition of terms). The interview included questions about reasons for participation 

in various adult educational activities, employer support for educational activities, and distance education 

methods. Additionally, information was collected about personal background, employment, and household 

characteristics. 

Results reported in the tables and bullets are weighted means, medians, and proportions generated by 

bivariate cross-tabulation procedures. All statements of comparison made in this report have been tested for 

statistical significance using two-tailed t tests at the 95 percent confidence level. Additional details about 

statistical procedures utilized in this report are provided in the Statistical Tests section in appendix A. 

The purpose of this E.D. TAB is to introduce new NCES survey data through the presentation of 

selected descriptive information. The E.D. TAB is purely descriptive in nature. Readers are cautioned not to 

draw causal inferences based solely on the bivariate results presented in this E.D. TAB. It is important to note 

that many of the variables examined in this report are related to one another, and complex interactions and 

relationships have not been explored here. The variables examined here are also just a few of the variables 

that can be examined in these data and were selected to demonstrate the range of information that helped 

shape the design and now is available from the study. The selected findings are examples of comparisons that 

can be made using the data and are not designed to emphasize any particular issue. Release of the E.D. TAB 

is intended to encourage more in-depth analysis of the data, using more sophisticated statistical methods.

Highlights of the data follow, along with information pertaining to each topic area of the 

questionnaire in the 2005 survey. The selected highlights presented here provide an overview of the types of 
2 

information available in the AE-NHES:2005 survey data, and are intended to be illustrative rather than 

exhaustive. 

Participation in Adult Educational Activities 

• Over the 12-month period ending in spring 2005, 44 percent of adults reported having participated in 

formal adult educational activities, excluding full-time only enrollments in college/university or 

vocational/technical credential programs (table 1). More adults reported having participated in workrelated courses or training (27 percent) than any other type of activity (ESL classes – 1 percent, basic 

skills/GED preparation classes – 1 percent, part-time college or university degree or certificate programs 

– 4 percent1

, part-time vocational or technical diploma, degree, or certificate programs – 1 percent, 

apprenticeship programs – 1 percent, and personal-interest courses – 21. 

Reasons for Participation 

Adults were asked a series of questions about reasons for participation in specific adult educational 

activities, namely ESL classes, basic skills/GED preparation classes, work-related courses or training, and 

personal-interest courses. 

• The majority of ESL participants reported having taken ESL classes to either improve the way that they 

felt about themselves (95 percent) or to make it easier to do things on a day-to-day basis (93 percent) 

(table 2). 

• A larger proportion of adults reported having taken basic skills/GED preparation classes to improve the 

way that they feel about themselves (78 percent) than for purposes of helping children with school work 

(28 percent), getting a new job with a different employer (55 percent), getting a raise or promotion (45 

percent), and meeting requirements for public assistance (18 percent) (table 3). 

• Among adults who reported having taken formal work-related courses or training within the previous 12 

months, a larger proportion of these adults reported having taken the courses or training to maintain or 

improve skills or knowledge that they already had (95 percent) than for purposes of learning new skills 

or methods that they did not already know (83 percent), helping to get a raise or promotion (19 percent), 

getting a new job with a different employer (10 percent), getting or keeping a state, industry, or company 

certificate or license (42 percent), or because they were required to participate (63 percent) (table 4). 

Sources of Financial Support and Out-of-Pocket Expenses for Educational Activities 

Adults were asked a series of questions for each educational activity in which they participated in the 

12 months prior to the interview about four alternative types of support from employers and other 

organizations. Adults also were asked about any outlays that they had to make out-of-pocket for tuition and 

fees and/or books and materials to attend these courses, classes, or training. 

• Among adults who were employed and who were enrolled part-time in college or university degree or 

certificate programs within the previous 12 months, more adults reported receipt of financial support (32 

percent) than reported a program offered at the workplace (12 percent), participation during regular work 

hours (21 percent), or being paid during the times that they were attending (11 percent) (table 5). 

 

1

 The participation in “part-time” college/university degree or certificate programs and vocational/technical diploma, degree, or certificate 

programs throughout the report includes both part-time only enrollments in either of these programs or enrollments through a combination of 

part-time and full-time enrollments in either of these programs. Thus, “part-time” enrollment includes all those enrolled on a part-time basis at 

any time in the previous 12 months, even if they were also enrolled full-time at another point in that timeframe. 
3 

• Higher proportions of full-time employed adults (93, 86, 80, and 81 percents) reported receipt of 

employer support for formal work-related courses or training than part-time employed adults (83, 74, 51, 

and 57 percents) for each type of support with the exception of workplace program offerings. There was 

no difference detected between full-time employed adults (57 percent) and part-time employed adults 

(49 percent) with respect to workplace program offerings (table 6). 

• The median out-of-pocket tuition and fees for adults enrolled part-time in college or university degree or 

certificate programs was $1,144, while the median out-of-pocket tuition and fees for adults enrolled in 

basic skills/GED preparation classes, apprenticeship programs, or work-related courses or training was 

$0 (table 7). 

Type of Provider 

 Adults who reported having taken ESL classes, basic skills/GED preparation classes, apprenticeship 

programs, work-related courses or training, and personal-interest courses in the 12 months prior to the 

interview were asked to specify the type of provider for their educational activities. Those in college or 

university degree or certificate programs or vocational or technical diploma, degree, or certificate programs 

were not asked about provider type since the provider type for most of these activities is a postsecondary 

institution. 

• Among adults who were enrolled in ESL classes, basic skills/GED preparation classes, apprenticeship 

programs, work-related courses or training, or personal-interest courses over the last 12 months, the type 

of instructional provider reported most often for one or more of these activities was a private business, 

company, or hospital (40 percent) (table 8). 

• For ESL participants, a larger proportion of adults reported that these classes were taken at an 

elementary school, junior high, high school, or adult learning center (46 percent) than reported that these 

classes were taken at other types of providers (17 percent) with the exception of postsecondary 

institutions (37 percent). There was no difference detected between the proportion of adults who 

reported taking these classes at an elementary school, junior high, high school, or adult learning center 

versus the proportion of adults who reported taking these classes at a postsecondary institution (table 9). 

• For basic skills/GED preparation participants, a larger proportion of adults reported that these classes 

were taken at an elementary school, junior high, high school, or adult learning center (43 percent) than 

reported that these classes were taken at postsecondary institutions (25 percent). There was no 

difference detected between the proportion of adults who reported taking these classes at an elementary 

school, junior high, high school, or adult learning center versus the proportion of adults who reported 

taking these classes with other types of providers excluding postsecondary institutions (32 percent) 

(table 10). 

• Among participants in work-related courses or training, more adults cited a private business, company, 

or hospital (52 percent) as the instructional provider than any other provider type (table 11). 

• Among adults who reported having taken personal-interest courses within the previous 12 months, the 

provider type of a community or religious organization or nonprofit institution (52 percent) was reported 

more often than any other provider type (table 12). 
4 

Time Spent in Coursework, Classes, or Training 

 Adults were asked how much time they spent in each adult educational activity in which they 

participated. 

• Adults who took personal-interest courses reported more hours (59), on average, than adults who took 

work-related courses or training (42) within the previous 12 months (table 13). 

• Among adults who reported taking formal work-related courses or training within the previous 12 

months, more adults reported having participated for 10 or fewer hours (33 percent) than for any other 

period of instructional hours (11-25 hours – 24 percent, 26-50 hours – 20 percent, and 51 hours or more 

– 22 percent) (table 14). 

• Among adults who reported having taken personal-interest courses within the previous 12 months, more 

adults reported having participated for 51 hours or more (34 percent) than for any other range of 

instructional hours. Specifically, 24 percent of adults reported having participated in personal interest 

courses for 10 hours or fewer, 24 percent for 11 to 25 hours, and 19 percent for 26 to 50 hours (table 15). 

Distance Education & Informal Learning Activities for Personal Interest 

Adults were asked about their usage of multiple types of distance education methods and the programs or 

courses for which they used these methods. Also, adults were asked about their engagement in various types of 

informal learning activities for personal interest (see the glossary in appendix B for descriptions of distance 

education and informal learning activities). 

• Approximately one-third (32 percent) of adults who reported having participated in adult educational 

activities within the previous 12 months reported using some type of distance education (table 16). 

• Among both participants and non-participants in adult educational activities over the previous 12 

months, the highest proportion of these adults who reported having engaged in any informal learning 

activities for personal interest were those who had a graduate or professional degree (89 percent) (table 

17).
5 

References 

Brick, J.M., Montaquila, J.M., Hagedorn, M., Li, L., and Seastrom, M. (forthcoming). An Analysis of 

Nonresponse Bias in the 2001 National Household Education Surveys Program (NHES:2001). 

Technical Report. (NCES 2006-xxx). U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education 

Statistics. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. 

Demaio, T.J. (1984). Social Desirability and Survey Measurement: A Review. In C.F. Turner and E. Martin 

(Eds.), Surveying Subjective Phenomena (pp. 257-281). New York: Russell Sage. 

Montaquila, J.M., Brick, J.M., and Brock, S.P. (1997). Undercoverage Bias in Estimates of Characteristics 

of Households and Adults in the 1996 National Household Education Survey. NCES Publication No. 97-

39. U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics. 

Rao, J.N.K., and Shao, J. (1992). Jackknife Variance Estimation with Survey Data under Hot Deck Imputation. 

Biometrika, 79, 811–822. 

U.S. Census Bureau. (2005). Current Population Survey, Annual Demographic Supplement (March) 

(Independent Tabulations). 

Westat. (2000). WesVar 4.0 User's Guide. Rockville, MD: Author. 
6 

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7 

Table 1. Percentage of adults who participated in adult education, by type of educational activity and selected 

adult characteristics: 2004-05 

Formal adult education activities 

Characteristic 

Number of 

adults 

(thousands) 

Any 

formal 

adult 

education 

ESL 

classes 

Basic 

skills/ 

GED 

classes 

Part-time 

 college 

 degree 

program1

Part-time 

vocational 

degree/ 

diploma 

program2

Apprenticeship 

Workrelated 

courses 

Personalinterest 

courses 

 

 Total..................................... 211,607 44 1 1 4 1 1 27 21 

 

Age

 16 to 24 years ........................ 25,104 53 2 6 9 2 3 21 27 

 25 to 34 years ........................ 38,784 52 2 2 7 2 3 32 22 

 35 to 44 years ........................ 42,890 49 1 1 4 1 1 34 22 

 45 to 54 years ........................ 41,840 48 # # 3 1 1 37 20 

 55 to 64 years ........................ 29,068 40 # # 1 1 # 27 21 

 65 years or older.................... 33,922 23 # # # # # 5 19 

 

Sex 

 Male ....................................... 101,596 41 1 1 4 1 2 24 18 

 Female.................................... 110,011 47 1 1 4 1 1 29 24 

 

Race/ethnicity

 White, non-Hispanic ............. 146,614 46 # 1 4 1 1 29 22 

 Black, non-Hispanic.............. 23,467 46 # 2 4 1 2 27 24 

 Hispanic ................................. 26,101 38 6 3 4 1 2 17 15 

 Asian or Pacific Islander, 

 non-Hispanic................... 7,080 44 2 1! 6 1! 1! 24 23 

 Other race, non-Hispanic...... 8,346 39 # 1 4 1 2 23 20 

 

Highest education level 

completed

 Less than a high school 

 diploma/equivalent.......... 31,018 22 2 7 # 1 1 4 11 

 High school diploma/ 

 equivalent......................... 64,334 33 1 1 2 1 2 17 16 

 Some college/vocational/ 

 associate’s degree............ 58,545 51 1 # 6 2 1 31 25 

 Bachelor’s degree.................. 37,244 60 # # 6 1 # 44 29 

 Graduate or professional 

 education or degree......... 20,466 66 1! # 7 1 1! 51 30 

 

Household income

 $20,000 or less....................... 34,670 28 1 2 2 1 2 11 16 

 $20,001 to $35,000 ............... 35,839 36 2 2 4 1 1 18 17 

 $35,001 to $50,000 ............... 33,376 42 2! 1 2 1 1 23 22 

 $50,001 to $75,000 ............... 47,114 48 # # 5 1 1 33 21 

 $75,001 or more .................... 60,607 58 1 1 5 2 1 39 27 

See notes at end of table. 
8 

Table 1. Percentage of adults who participated in adult education, by type of educational activity and selected 

adult characteristics: 2004-05—Continued 

Formal adult education activities 

Characteristic 

Number of 

adults 

(thousands) 

Any 

formal 

adult 

education 

ESL 

classes 

Basic 

skills/ 

GED 

classes 

Part-time 

 college 

 degree 

program1

Part-time 

vocational 

degree/ 

diploma 

program2

Apprenticeship 

Workrelated 

courses 

Personalinterest 

courses 

 

Employment status 

 Employed full-time ............... 106,389 53 1 1 5 2 2 40 20 

 Employed part-time .............. 27,090 53 1 2! 7 1 1 32 29 

 Unemployed and looking 

 for work............................ 9,941 38 2 6 3 2 2! 14 23 

 Not in the labor force ............ 68,187 28 1 1 2 1 1 6 20 

 

Occupation 

 Professional/managerial........ 48,647 70 # # 8 1 1 56 29 

 Sales/service/clerical............. 66,218 48 1 2 5 2 1 31 22 

 Trade and labor...................... 37,585 34 2 2! 2 2 3 19 13 

#Estimate rounds to 0 or 0 cases in sample. 

!Interpret data with caution; coefficient of variation is 50 percent or more. 1

Includes those enrolled only part-time in college or university degree or certificate programs or those enrolled through a combination of part-time and full-time 

enrollments in the 12 months prior to the interview. 2

Includes those enrolled only part-time in vocational or technical diploma, degree, certificate programs or those enrolled through a combination of part-time and 

full-time enrollments in the 12 months prior to the interview.

NOTE: See Appendix B - Glossary for detailed explanation of these core adult education categories used throughout the report. Details may not sum to totals 

because of rounding. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Adult Education Survey of the 2005 National Household Education Surveys 

Program. 
9 

Table 1a. Standard errors of the percentage of adults who participated in adult education, by type of 

educational activity and selected adult characteristics: 2004-05 

Formal adult education activities 

Characteristic 

Number of 

adults 

(thousands) 

Any 

formal 

adult 

education 

ESL 

classes 

Basic 

skills/ 

GED 

classes 

Part-time 

college 

degree 

program1

Part-time 

vocational 

degree/ 

diploma 

program2

Apprenticeship 

Workrelated 

courses 

Personalinterest 

Courses 

 

 Total..................................... † 0.7 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.1 0.2 0.6 0.7 

 

Age

 16 to 24 years ........................ 1,083.2 2.7 0.6 1.5 1.3 0.7 0.8 2.2 2.6 

 25 to 34 years ........................ 1,440.7 2.2 0.8 0.4 0.8 0.4 0.7 1.8 1.8 

 35 to 44 years ........................ 1,124.3 2.0 0.2 0.2 0.5 0.3 0.3 2.1 1.9 

 45 to 54 years ........................ 1,403.8 1.5 # # 0.4 0.2 0.2 1.4 1.2 

 55 to 64 years ........................ 844.5 2.0 # # 0.2 0.2 # 1.6 1.3 

 65 years or older.................... 931.4 1.1 # # # # # 0.7 1.1 

 

Sex 

 Male ....................................... † 1.2 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.2 0.3 1.0 1.1 

 Female.................................... † 1.0 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.2 1.0 0.9 

 

Race/ethnicity

 White, non-Hispanic ............. 960.1 0.8 # 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.7 0.9 

 Black, non-Hispanic.............. 15.9 2.8 # 0.5 0.7 0.5 0.7 2.5 2.1 

 Hispanic ................................. † 2.4 1.2 0.7 1.0 0.3 0.6 1.7 1.8 

 Asian or Pacific Islander, 

 non-Hispanic................... 649.3 4.6 1.0 0.5! 2.3 0.6! 0.7! 3.9 4.3 

 Other race, non-Hispanic...... 715.5 4.0 # 0.3 1.9 0.4 0.7 3.4 3.4 

 

Highest education level 

completed

 Less than a high school 

 diploma/equivalent.......... 225.8 1.7 0.7 1.2 # 0.4 0.3 0.7 1.2 

 High school diploma/ 

 equivalent......................... 1,081.3 1.5 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.4 1.1 1.2 

 Some college/vocational/ 

 associate’s degree............ 1,366.1 1.4 0.4 # 0.7 0.3 0.4 1.3 1.4 

 Bachelor’s degree.................. 930.2 1.5 # # 0.7 0.3 # 1.6 1.5 

 Graduate or professional 

 education or degree......... 731.1 2.2 0.4! # 0.9 0.3 0.7! 2.4 1.7 

 

Household income

 $20,000 or less....................... 643.6 1.8 0.3 0.5 0.5 0.1 0.5 1.2 1.7 

 $20,001 to $35,000 ............... 1,269.7 1.7 0.4 0.5 0.8 0.4 0.3 1.5 1.4 

 $35,001 to $50,000 ............... 1,463.0 2.4 0.8! 0.4 0.5 0.3 0.4 1.9 1.9 

 $50,001 to $75,000 ............... 1,520.9 1.7 # # 0.6 0.2 0.4 1.4 1.7 

 $75,001 or more .................... 1,307.8 1.5 0.2 0.5 0.5 0.4 0.4 1.4 1.1 

See notes at end of table. 
10 

Table 1a. Standard errors of the percentage of adults who participated in adult education, by type of educational 

activity and selected adult characteristics: 2004-05—Continued 

Formal adult education activities 

Characteristic 

Number of 

adults 

(thousands) 

Any 

formal 

adult 

education 

ESL 

classes 

Basic 

skills/ 

GED 

classes 

Part-time 

college 

degree 

program1

Part-time 

vocational 

degree/ 

diploma 

program2

Apprenticeship 

Workrelated 

courses 

Personalinterest 

courses 

 

Employment status 

 Employed full-time ............... 1,707.2 1.0 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.3 1.0 1.1 

 Employed part-time .............. 1,186.2 2.6 0.3 1.1! 1.2 0.3 0.3 2.1 2.0 

 Unemployed and looking 

 for work............................ 696.0 4.2 0.8 1.6 1.0 0.8 1.2! 2.2 4.0 

 Not in the labor force ............ 1,384.2 1.2 0.4 0.2 0.4 0.1 0.2 0.6 1.0 

 

Occupation

 Professional/managerial........ 1,133.9 1.6 # # 0.7 0.2 0.2 1.6 1.6 

 Sales/service/clerical............. 1,639.1 1.5 0.3 0.3 0.5 0.3 0.4 1.5 1.3 

 Trade and labor...................... 1,108.4 2.2 0.6 1.0! 0.5 0.4 0.7 1.6 1.6 

†Not applicable. Due to the estimation procedures used, every possible sample drawn from the population would have yielded the same value for the total estimate, 

for totals by sex, and for totals by race/ethnicity (Hispanic only). Thus, the standard error, a measure of sampling variability, is zero. 

#Estimate rounds to 0 or 0 cases in sample. 

!Interpret data with caution; coefficient of variation is 50 percent or more. 1

Includes those enrolled only part-time in college or university degree or certificate programs or those enrolled through a combination of part-time and full-time 

enrollments in the 12 months prior to the interview. 2

Includes those enrolled only part-time in vocational or technical diploma, degree, certificate programs or those enrolled through a combination of part-time and 

full-time enrollments in the 12 months prior to the interview.

NOTE: See Appendix B - Glossary for detailed explanation of these core adult education categories used throughout the report. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Adult Education Survey of the 2005 National Household Education Surveys 

Program. 
11 

Table 2. Number and percentage of adults who gave selected reasons for participation in English as a 

Second Language classes: 2004-05 

Reasons for participation 

Number of adults 

(thousands) 

Percentage of 

adults 

 

 Total......................................................................................................................... 1,965 100 

 

To help your children with school work......................................................................... 863 44 

To get U.S. citizenship..................................................................................................... 886 45 

To get a new job with a different employer.................................................................... 1,105 56 

To help you get a raise or promotion .............................................................................. 1,183 60 

To be able to attend college or vocational school .......................................................... 1,322 67 

To meet a requirement for public assistance .................................................................. 299 15 

To improve the way you feel about yourself.................................................................. 1,874 95 

To make it easier to do things on a day-to-day basis ..................................................... 1,835 93 

NOTE: Only adults who reported that their first language was not English were asked information related to ESL classes, including whether they had 

participated in ESL classes over the previous 12 months. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Adult Education Survey of the 2005 National Household Education 

Surveys Program. 

Table 2a. Standard errors of the number and percentage of adults who gave selected reasons for 

participation in English as a Second Language classes: 2004-05 

Reasons for participation 

Number of adults 

(thousands) 

Percentage of 

adults 

 

 Total......................................................................................................................... 351.7 † 

 

To help your children with school work......................................................................... 229.4 10.5 

To get U.S. citizenship..................................................................................................... 223.1 10.3 

To get a new job with a different employer.................................................................... 249.5 11.0 

To help you get a raise or promotion .............................................................................. 304.4 9.1 

To be able to attend college or vocational school .......................................................... 317.5 7.4 

To meet a requirement for public assistance .................................................................. 94.2 5.2 

To improve the way you feel about yourself.................................................................. 349.9 3.1 

To make it easier to do things on a day-to-day basis ..................................................... 345.6 3.5 

†Not applicable. 

NOTE: Only adults who reported that their first language was not English were asked information related to ESL classes, including whether they had 

participated in ESL classes over the previous 12 months. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Adult Education Survey of the 2005 National Household Education 

Surveys Program. 
12 

Table 3. Number and percentage of adults who gave selected reasons for participation in basic skills or 

GED preparation classes: 2004-05 

Reasons for participation 

Number of adults 

(thousands) 

Percentage of 

adults 

 

 Total......................................................................................................................... 2,822 100 

 

To help your children with school work......................................................................... 786 28 

To get a new job with a different employer.................................................................... 1,565 55 

To help you get a raise or promotion .............................................................................. 1,259 45 

To be able to attend college or vocational school .......................................................... 1,980 70 

To meet a requirement for public assistance .................................................................. 517 18 

To improve the way you feel about yourself.................................................................. 2,194 78 

To make it easier to do things on a day-to-day basis ..................................................... 1,815 64 

NOTE: Only adults who reported not having a high school diploma, adults who reported having received a high school diploma in the past 12 months 

other than through a regular high school diploma, or adults who reported having received a foreign high school diploma but did not report having a 

bachelor’s degree or higher were asked information related to basic skills/GED preparation classes, including whether they had participated in basic 

skills/GED preparation classes over the previous 12 months. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Adult Education Survey of the 2005 National Household Education 

Surveys Program. 

Table 3a. Standard errors of the number and percentage of adults who gave selected reasons for 

participation in basic skills or GED preparation classes: 2004-05 

Reasons for participation 

Number of adults 

(thousands) 

Percentage of 

adults 

 

 Total......................................................................................................................... 464.9 † 

 

To help your children with school work......................................................................... 184.5 4.8 

To get a new job with a different employer.................................................................... 417.2 8.4 

To help you get a raise or promotion .............................................................................. 412.5 10.1 

To be able to attend college or vocational school .......................................................... 373.0 6.4 

To meet a requirement for public assistance .................................................................. 134.2 5.6 

To improve the way you feel about yourself.................................................................. 456.7 7.1 

To make it easier to do things on a day-to-day basis ..................................................... 447.6 8.7 

†Not applicable. 

NOTE: Only adults who reported not having a high school diploma, adults who reported having received a high school diploma in the past 12 months 

other than through a regular high school diploma, or adults who reported having received a foreign high school diploma but did not report having a 

bachelor’s degree or higher were asked information related to basic skills/GED preparation classes, including whether they had participated in basic 

skills/GED preparation classes over the previous 12 months. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Adult Education Survey of the 2005 National Household Education 

Surveys Program. 
13 

Table 4. Number and percentage of adults who gave selected reasons for participation in formal workrelated courses or training: 2004-05 

Reasons for participation 

Number of adults 

(thousands) 

Percentage of 

adults 

 

 Total......................................................................................................................... 57,004 100 

 

To maintain or improve skills or knowledge you already had...................................... 54,050 95 

To learn new skills or methods you did not already know............................................ 47,163 83 

To help you get a raise or promotion .............................................................................. 10,595 19 

To get a new job with a different employer.................................................................... 5,711 10 

To get or to keep a state, industry, or company certificate or license........................... 23,697 42 

Because you were required to take it .............................................................................. 35,882 63 

NOTE: Work-related courses or training are defined as any formal courses or training taken in the 12 months prior to the interview that had an 

instructor present and were related to job or career, whether or not the respondent had a job when he or she took them. Information was collected on 

up to four work-related courses or training taken in the 12 months prior to the interview. If an adult took more than four courses or training, four were 

sampled for data collection. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Adult Education Survey of the 2005 National Household Education 

Surveys Program. 

Table 4a. Standard errors of the number and percentage of adults who gave selected reasons for 

participation in formal work-related courses or training: 2004-05 

Reasons for participation 

Number of adults 

(thousands) 

Percentage of 

adults 

 

 Total......................................................................................................................... 1,332.6 † 

 

To maintain or improve skills or knowledge you already had...................................... 1,306.6 0.8 

To learn new skills or methods you did not already know............................................ 1,328.7 1.3 

To help you get a raise or promotion .............................................................................. 706.1 1.2 

To get a new job with a different employer.................................................................... 615.3 1.0 

To get or to keep a state, industry, or company certificate or license........................... 1,055.3 1.5 

Because you were required to take it .............................................................................. 1,171.5 1.4 

†Not applicable. 

NOTE: Work-related courses or training are defined as any formal courses or training taken in the 12 months prior to the interview that had an 

instructor present and were related to job or career, whether or not the respondent had a job when he or she took them. Information was collected on 

up to four work-related courses or training taken in the 12 months prior to the interview. If an adult took more than four courses or training, four were 

sampled for data collection. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Adult Education Survey of the 2005 National Household Education 

Surveys Program. 
14 

Table 5. Percentage of employed adults enrolled part-time in college or university degree or certificate 

programs or vocational or technical diploma, degree, or certificate programs who reported 

selected forms of employer support: 2004-05 

Types of employer support 

Type of educational activity 

Number of 

adults 

(thousands) 

Any 

employer 

support 

Financial support 

(tuition, books, 

materials) 

Program offered 

at workplace 

Program taken 

during regular 

work hours 

Salary paid 

during time of 

training 

 

Part-time college or university 

degree or certificate programs..... 6,983 45 32 12 21 11 

Part-time vocational or technical 

diploma or degree programs....... 1,680 54 47 15 36 30 

NOTE: College or university degree or certificate programs are defined as programs for which participants were enrolled part-time or enrolled through a 

combination of part-time and full-time enrollments in the 12 months prior to the interview. Vocational or technical diploma, degree, certificate programs are 

defined as programs for which participants were enrolled part-time or enrolled through a combination of part-time and full-time enrollments in the 12 months 

prior to the interview. For adults who reported enrollment in multiple programs of a specific type, results were pooled across all of the programs of that type, 

e.g. two college/university programs pooled or two vocational or technical programs pooled. These questions were asked only of people who reported having 

worked sometime in the 12 months prior to the interview and were not self-employed only and who reported being employed during the time that they were 

taking the college or university degree or certificate program(s) or the vocational or technical diploma, degree, or certificate program(s). Data for these 

participants on receipt of employer support by selected adult characteristics are not consistently available because of small sample sizes and therefore they are 

not provided here. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Adult Education Survey of the 2005 National Household Education 

Surveys Program. 

Table 5a. Standard errors of the percentage of employed adults enrolled part-time in college or university 

degree or certificate programs or vocational or technical diploma, degree, or certificate programs 

who reported selected forms of employer support, by selected adult characteristics: 2004-05 

Types of employer support 

Type of educational activity 

Number of 

adults 

(thousands) 

Any 

employer 

support 

Financial support 

(tuition, books, 

materials) 

Program offered 

at workplace 

Program taken 

during regular 

work hours 

Salary paid 

during time of 

training 

 

Part-time college or university 

degree or certificate programs..... 485.0 4.1 3.4 2.9 3.3 2.1 

Part-time vocational or technical 

diploma or degree programs....... 241.7 8.1 7.9 4.5 7.2 6.8 

NOTE: College or university degree or certificate programs are defined as programs for which participants were enrolled part-time or enrolled through a 

combination of part-time and full-time enrollments in the 12 months prior to the interview. Vocational or technical diploma, degree, certificate programs are 

defined as programs for which participants were enrolled part-time or enrolled through a combination of part-time and full-time enrollments in the 12 months 

prior to the interview. For adults who reported enrollment in multiple programs of a specific type, results were pooled across all of the programs of that type, 

e.g. two college/university programs pooled or two vocational or technical programs pooled. These questions were asked only of people who reported having 

worked sometime in the 12 months prior to the interview and were not self-employed only and who reported being employed during the time that they were 

taking the college or university degree or certificate program(s) or the vocational or technical diploma, degree, or certificate program(s). Data for these 

participants on receipt of employer support by selected adult characteristics are not consistently available because of small sample sizes and therefore they are 

not provided here. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Adult Education Survey of the 2005 National Household Education 

Surveys Program. 
15 

Table 6. Percentage of employed adults enrolled in formal work-related courses or training who reported 

selected forms of employer support, by selected adult characteristics: 2004-05 

Types of employer support 

Characteristic 

Number of 

adults 

(thousands) 

Any 

employer 

support 

Financial support 

(tuition, books, 

materials) 

Program offered at 

workplace 

Program taken 

during regular 

work hours 

Salary paid during 

time of training 

 

 Total........................................ 47,760 91 83 56 75 77 

 

Age 

 16 to 24 years ........................... 4,275 75 60 32 55 43 

 25 to 34 years ........................... 10,970 88 80 52 73 74 

 35 to 44 years ........................... 12,434 95 90 58 74 79 

 45 to 54 years ........................... 13,028 95 87 65 82 85 

 55 to 64 years ........................... 6,167 94 86 56 80 84 

 65 years or older....................... 886 91 73 63 77 83 

 

Sex 

 Male .......................................... 20,488 92 86 56 80 79 

 Female ...................................... 27,272 90 81 56 72 75 

 

Race/ethnicity 

 White, non-Hispanic................ 36,010 92 84 57 76 76 

 Black, non-Hispanic ................ 5,133 89 81 60 75 78 

 Hispanic.................................... 3,525 92 89 48 71 78 

 Asian or Pacific Islander, 

 non-Hispanic...................... 1,376 95 91 54 72 84 

 Other race, non-Hispanic......... 1,716 80 66 45 66 72 

 

Highest education level 

completed 

 Less than a high school 

 diploma/equivalent............. 939 83 64 30 68 60 

 High school diploma/ 

 equivalent ........................... 8,755 93 83 58 76 79 

 Some college/vocational/ 

 associate’s degree............... 15,532 89 82 55 74 76 

 Bachelor’s degree..................... 14,131 92 87 55 76 78 

 Graduate or professional 

 education or degree............ 8,404 93 82 60 75 76 

 

Household income

 $20,000 or less ......................... 2,670 79 68 41 54 62 

 $20,001 to $35,000 .................. 4,981 88 81 54 67 70 

 $35,001 to $50,000 .................. 6,630 93 84 61 75 74 

 $50,001 to $75,000 .................. 13,443 92 84 53 74 76 

 $75,001 or more....................... 20,037 93 86 58 81 82 

See notes at end of table. 
16 

Table 6. Percentage of employed adults enrolled in formal work-related courses or training who reported 

selected forms of employer support, by selected adult characteristics: 2004-05—Continued 

Types of employer support 

Characteristic 

Number of 

adults 

(thousands) 

Any 

employer 

support 

Financial support 

(tuition, books, 

materials) 

Program offered at 

workplace 

Program taken 

during regular 

work hours 

Salary paid during 

time of training 

 

Employment status 

 Employed full-time ................. 38,527 93 86 57 80 81 

 Employed part-time................. 7,141 83 74 49 51 57 

 Unemployed and looking 

 for work.............................. 697 79 64 56 76 60 

 Not in the labor force............... 1,395 81 71 62 56 63 

 

Occupation 

 Professional/managerial.......... 24,199 93 85 59 76 79 

 Sales/service/clerical ............... 17,476 89 81 50 74 76 

 Trade and labor........................ 6,085 89 82 61 74 72 

NOTE: Work-related courses or training are defined as any formal courses or training taken in the 12 months prior to the interview that had an instructor present 

and were related to job or career, whether or not the respondent had a job when he or she took them. Information was collected on up to four work-related 

courses or training taken in the 12 months prior to the interview. If an adult took more than four courses or training, four were sampled for data collection. 

These questions were asked only of people who reported having worked sometime in the 12 months prior to the interview and were not self-employed only and 

who reported being employed during the time that they were taking the work-related courses or training. Details may not sum to totals because of rounding. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Adult Education Survey of the 2005 National Household Education Surveys 

Program. 
17 

Table 6a. Standard errors of the percentage of employed adults enrolled in formal work-related courses or 

training who reported selected forms of employer support, by selected adult characteristics: 

2004-05 

Types of employer support 

Characteristic 

Number of 

adults 

(thousands) 

Any 

employer 

support 

Financial support 

(tuition, books, 

materials) 

Program offered at 

workplace 

Program taken 

during regular 

work hours 

Salary paid during 

time of training 

 

 Total ..................................... 1,295.7 0.9 1.1 1.4 1.5 1.5 

 

Age

 16 to 24 years......................... 568.1 5.7 6.5 6.1 7.5 7.0 

 25 to 34 years......................... 770.0 2.3 2.8 4.2 2.6 2.9 

 35 to 44 years......................... 924.6 1.1 1.8 3.2 3.3 3.3 

 45 to 54 years......................... 708.5 1.3 1.9 2.7 2.0 1.7 

 55 to 64 years......................... 403.0 1.3 2.4 3.3 3.1 2.2 

 65 years or older .................... 185.4 3.6 6.6 7.5 5.8 4.7 

 

Sex

 Male........................................ 1,002.2 1.5 1.6 2.3 2.6 2.6 

 Female.................................... 985.3 1.1 1.6 2.0 1.6 1.6 

 

Race/ethnicity

 White, non-Hispanic ............. 1,060.3 0.9 1.1 1.6 1.6 1.6 

 Black, non-Hispanic.............. 523.4 2.8 3.9 5.2 4.4 4.0 

 Hispanic ................................. 438.9 2.5 2.9 8.2 7.2 7.1 

 Asian or Pacific Islander, 

 non-Hispanic ................... 284.4 2.8 4.1 12.2 12.3 6.4 

 Other race, non-Hispanic. ..... 294.0 9.7 9.3 9.1 9.3 9.3 

 

Highest education level 

completed 

 Less than a high school 

 diploma/equivalent.......... 220.3 7.6 12.1 10.3 12.4 12.2 

 High school diploma/ 

 equivalent......................... 573.6 1.6 2.3 4.0 3.5 3.3 

 Some college/vocational/ 

 associate’s degree............ 867.1 2.1 2.4 3.2 2.8 2.9 

 Bachelor’s degree.................. 706.4 1.5 1.6 2.8 2.4 2.0 

 Graduate or professional 

 education or degree ......... 552.8 1.8 2.5 3.4 4.0 4.2 

 

Household income 

 $20,000 or less....................... 362.8 4.5 5.1 6.4 6.4 5.7 

 $20,001 to $35,000................ 558.6 3.2 3.6 5.9 5.2 5.2 

 $35,001 to $50,000................ 636.8 1.7 3.2 5.6 5.3 5.4 

 $50,001 to $75,000................ 755.4 1.8 2.3 3.4 3.0 2.8 

 $75,001 or more .................... 915.2 1.3 1.9 2.1 1.6 1.7 

See notes at end of table. 
18 

Table 6a. Standard errors of the percentage of employed adults enrolled in formal work-related courses or 

training who reported selected forms of employer support, by selected adult characteristics: 

2004-05—Continued 

Types of employer support 

Characteristic 

Number of 

adults 

(thousands) 

Any 

employer 

support 

Financial support 

(tuition, books, 

materials) 

Program offered at 

workplace 

Program taken 

during regular work 

hours 

Salary paid 

during time of 

training 

 

Employment status 

 Employed full-time ............... 1,196.1 0.9 1.3 1.6 1.4 1.4 

 Employed part-time............... 651.2 2.8 3.4 5.2 5.2 5.2 

 Unemployed and looking 

 for work............................ 179.2 10.1 14.4 13.2 10.4 12.7 

 Not in the labor force............. 216.8 5.4 6.8 7.1 8.4 7.9 

 

Occupation

 Professional/managerial........ 963.6 1.0 1.6 2.1 2.0 1.8 

 Sales/service/clerical ............. 1,049.2 1.7 1.8 3.0 2.5 2.2 

 Trade and labor...................... 615.3 3.3 4.1 5.1 5.1 5.1 

NOTE: Work-related courses or training are defined as any formal courses or training taken in the 12 months prior to the interview that had an instructor present 

and were related to job or career, whether or not the respondent had a job when he or she took them. Information was collected on up to four work-related 

courses or training taken in the 12 months prior to the interview. If an adult took more than four courses or training, four were sampled for data collection. 

These questions were asked only of people who reported having worked sometime in the 12 months prior to the interview and were not self-employed only and 

who reported being employed during the time that they were taking the work-related courses or training. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Adult Education Survey of the 2005 National Household Education Surveys 

Program. 
19 

Table 7. Percentage of adults reporting zero dollars in expenses for adult learning activities and median 

out-of-pocket expenses for adult learning activities, by type of learning activity: 2004-05 

Expenses per activity 

Tuition and fees Books and other materials 

Learning activity 

Number of adults 

(thousands) 

Percent 

reporting $0 Median 

Percent 

reporting $0 Median 

 

English as a Second Language classes...................... 1,965 44! $29! 48! $20! 

Basic skills or GED preparation classes ................... 2,822 80 0 61 0 

Part-time college or university degree or 

certificate programs............................................ 8,421 18 1,144 22 294 

Part-time vocational or technical diploma, 

degree, or certificate programs............................ 2,405 44 218 49! 8! 

Apprenticeship programs ........................................ 2,508 64 0 77 0 

Work-related courses or training ............................. 57,004 73 0 88 0 

Personal-interest courses............................................ 45,387 48 19 68 0 

!Interpret data with caution; coefficient of variation is 50 percent or more. 

NOTE: The distributions of out-of-pocket expenses were highly skewed for each learning activity; as a result, medians are reported instead of means. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Adult Education Survey of the 2005 National Household Education 

Surveys Program. 

Table 7a. Standard errors of median out-of-pocket expenses for adult learning activities, by type of learning 

activity: 2004-05 

Expenses per activity 

Learning activity 

Number of adults 

(thousands) Tuition and fees Books and other materials 

 

English as a Second Language classes...................... 351.7 $53.6! $12.6! 

Basic skills or GED preparation classes ................... 464.9 † † 

Part-time college or university degree or 

certificate programs ............................................ 536.9 190.3 36.0 

Part-time vocational or technical diploma, 

degree, or certificate programs............................ 307.9 106.1 22.2! 

Apprenticeship programs ........................................ 372.8 † † 

Work-related courses or training ............................. 1,332.6 † † 

Personal-interest courses............................................ 1,501.2 7.5 † 

†Not applicable. Standard errors cannot be computed for a median of zero. 

!Interpret data with caution; coefficient of variation is 50 percent or more. 

NOTE: The distributions of out-of-pocket expenses were highly skewed for each learning activity; as a result, medians are reported instead of means. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Adult Education Survey of the 2005 National Household Education 

Surveys Program. 
20 

Table 8. Number and percentage of adults who participated in English as a Second Language classes, 

basic skills or GED preparation classes, formal work-related courses or training, or personalinterest courses, by type of provider: 2004-05 

Type of provider 

Number of adults 

(thousands) 

Percentage of 

adults 

 

 Total.................................................................................................................................................... 93,939 100 

 

Postsecondary school (college/university, community/junior college, 

 vocational/technical/occupational school)........................................................................................... 27,387 29 

Other school or school district (elementary, junior high, high school, or adult learning center) .......... 8,209 9 

Private business/company/hospital ............................................................................................................ 37,970 40 

Government agency (federal, state, or local)............................................................................................. 11,564 12 

Professional association/organization/union ............................................................................................. 11,677 12 

Public library ............................................................................................................................................... 441 # 

Community or religious organization, nonprofit....................................................................................... 28,082 30 

Other ............................................................................................................................................................ 1,781 2 

#Estimate rounds to 0 or 0 cases in sample. 

NOTE: These adult educational activities do not include college/university or vocational/technical credential programs, as all providers are assumed to 

be postsecondary institutions. For adults who reported enrollment in apprenticeship programs who also reported that their employer or some other 

provider provided the programs, apprenticeship participation by type of provider is not included because apprenticeship provider information 

compatible with these categories was not collected. Details do not sum to totals and percentages sum to more than 100 percent because people may 

have taken programs and/or courses or training from more than one provider. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Adult Education Survey of the 2005 National Household Education 

Surveys Program. 

Table 8a. Standard errors of the number and percentage of adults who participated in English as a 

Second Language classes, basic skills or GED preparation classes, formal work-related 

courses or training, or personal-interest courses, by type of provider: 2004-05 

Type of provider 

Number of adults 

(thousands) 

Percentage of 

adults 

 

 Total.................................................................................................................................................... 1,562.0 † 

 

Postsecondary school (college/university, community/junior college, 

 vocational/technical/occupational school)........................................................................................... 1,133.3 1.1 

Other school or school district (elementary, junior high, high school, or adult learning center) .......... 601.5 0.6 

Private business/company/hospital ............................................................................................................ 1,158.0 1.0 

Government agency (federal, state, or local)............................................................................................. 661.6 0.7 

Professional association/organization/union ............................................................................................. 700.5 0.8 

Public library ............................................................................................................................................... 90.0 # 

Community or religious organization, nonprofit....................................................................................... 1,202.0 1.1 

Other ............................................................................................................................................................ 215.4 0.2 

†Not applicable. 

#Estimate rounds to 0 or 0 cases in sample. 

NOTE: These adult educational activities do not include college/university or vocational/technical credential programs, as all providers are assumed to 

be postsecondary institutions. For adults who reported enrollment in apprenticeship programs within the past 12 months who also reported that their 

employer or some other provider provided the programs, apprenticeship participation by type of provider is not included because apprenticeship 

provider information compatible with these categories was not collected. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Adult Education Survey of the 2005 National Household Education 

Surveys Program. 
21 

Table 9. Number and percentage of adults who took English as a Second Language classes, by type of 

provider: 2004-05 

Type of provider 

Number of adults 

(thousands) 

Percentage of 

adults 

 

 Total.................................................................................................................................................... 1,965 100 

 

Postsecondary school (college/university, community/junior college, 

 vocational/technical/occupational school)........................................................................................... 725 37 

Other school or school district (elementary, junior high, high school, or adult learning center) .......... 901 46 

Other provider type ..................................................................................................................................... 338 17 

NOTE: Only adults who reported that their first language was not English were asked information related to ESL classes, including whether they had 

participated in ESL classes over the previous 12 months. Due to small cell sizes, all provider types, besides the first two, were grouped together under 

the “Other provider type” category. Details may not sum to totals because of rounding. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Adult Education Survey of the 2005 National Household Education 

Surveys Program. 

Table 9a. Standard errors of the number and percentage of adults who took English as a Second 

Language classes, by type of provider: 2004-05 

Type of provider 

Number of adults 

(thousands) 

Percentage of 

adults 

 

 Total.................................................................................................................................................... 351.7 † 

 

Postsecondary school (college/university, community/junior college, 

 vocational/technical/occupational school)........................................................................................... 222.1 9.7 

Other school or school district (elementary, junior high, high school, or adult learning center) .......... 256.1 9.3 

Other provider type ..................................................................................................................................... 80.4 4.4 

†Not applicable. 

NOTE: Only adults who reported that their first language was not English were asked information related to ESL classes, including whether they had 

participated in ESL classes over the previous 12 months. Due to small cell sizes, all provider types, besides the first two, were grouped together under 

the “Other provider type” category. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Adult Education Survey of the 2005 National Household Education 

Surveys Program. 
22 

Table 10. Number and percentage of adults who took basic skills or GED preparation classes, by type of 

provider: 2004-05 

Type of provider 

Number of adults 

(thousands) 

Percentage of 

adults 

 

 Total.................................................................................................................................................... 2,822 100 

 

Postsecondary school (college/university, community/junior college, 

 vocational/technical/occupational school)............................................................................................ 719 25 

Other school or school district (elementary, junior high, high school, or adult learning center) .......... 1,209 43 

Other provider type ..................................................................................................................................... 895 32 

NOTE: Only adults who reported not having a high school diploma, adults who reported having received a high school diploma in the past 12 months 

other than through a regular high school diploma, or adults who reported having received a foreign high school diploma but did not report having a 

bachelor’s degree or higher were asked information related to basic skills/GED preparation classes, including whether they had participated in basic 

skills/GED preparation classes over the previous 12 months. Due to small cell sizes, all provider types, besides the first two, were grouped together 

under the “Other provider type” category. Details may not sum to totals because of rounding. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Adult Education Survey of the 2005 National Household Education 

Surveys Program. 

Table 10a. Standard errors of the number and percentage of adults who took basic skills or GED 

preparation classes, by type of provider: 2004-05 

Type of provider 

Number of adults 

(thousands) 

Percentage of 

adults 

 

 Total.................................................................................................................................................... 464.9 † 

 

Postsecondary school (college/university, community/junior college, 

 vocational/technical/occupational school)............................................................................................ 168.0 6.8 

Other school or school district (elementary, junior high, high school, or adult learning center) .......... 194.3 5.3 

Other provider type ..................................................................................................................................... 328.0 8.4 

†Not applicable. 

NOTE: Only adults who reported not having a high school diploma, adults who reported having received a high school diploma in the past 12 months 

other than through a regular high school diploma, or adults who reported having received a foreign high school diploma but did not report having a 

bachelor’s degree or higher were asked information related to basic skills/GED preparation classes, including whether they had participated in basic 

skills/GED preparation classes over the previous 12 months. Due to small cell sizes, all provider types, besides the first two, were grouped together 

under the “Other provider type” category. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Adult Education Survey of the 2005 National Household Education 

Surveys Program. 
23 

Table 11. Number and percentage of adults who took formal work-related courses or training, by type 

of provider: 2004-05 

Type of provider 

Number of adults 

(thousands) 

Percentage of 

adults 

 

 Total.................................................................................................................................................... 57,004 100 

 

Postsecondary school (college/university, community/junior college, 

 vocational/technical/occupational school)............................................................................................ 10,665 19 

Other school or school district (elementary, junior high, high school, or adult learning center) .......... 4,499 8 

Private business/company/hospital ............................................................................................................ 29,633 52 

Government agency (federal, state, or local)............................................................................................. 8,920 16 

Professional association/organization/union ............................................................................................. 9,677 17 

Public library ............................................................................................................................................... 46 # 

Community or religious organization, nonprofit....................................................................................... 5,885 10 

Other ............................................................................................................................................................ 571 1 

#Estimate rounds to 0 or 0 cases in sample. 

NOTE: Work-related courses or training are defined as any formal courses or training taken in the 12 months prior to the interview that had an 

instructor present and were related to job or career, whether or not the respondent had a job when he or she took them. Information was collected on 

up to four work-related courses or training taken in the 12 months prior to the interview. If an adult took more than four courses or training, four were 

sampled for data collection. Details do not sum to totals and percentages sum to more than 100 percent because people may take courses or training 

from more than one provider. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Adult Education Survey of the 2005 National Household Education 

Surveys Program. 

Table 11a. Standard errors of the number and percentage of adults who took formal work-related 

courses or training, by type of provider: 2004-05 

Type of provider 

Number of adults 

(thousands) 

Percentage of 

adults 

 

 Total.................................................................................................................................................... 1,332.6 † 

 

Postsecondary school (college/university, community/junior college, 

 vocational/technical/occupational school)............................................................................................ 669.5 1.0 

Other school or school district (elementary, junior high, high school, or adult learning center) .......... 467.4 0.8 

Private business/company/hospital ............................................................................................................ 1,037.3 1.3 

Government agency (federal, state, or local)............................................................................................. 618.9 1.0 

Professional association/organization/union ............................................................................................. 596.0 1.0 

Public library ............................................................................................................................................... 19.8 # 

Community or religious organization, nonprofit....................................................................................... 528.5 0.9 

Other ............................................................................................................................................................ 116.6 0.2 

†Not applicable. 

#Estimate rounds to 0 or 0 cases in sample. 

NOTE: Work-related courses or training are defined as any formal courses or training taken in the 12 months prior to the interview that had an 

instructor present and were related to job or career, whether or not the respondent had a job when he or she took them. Information was collected on 

up to four work-related courses or training taken in the 12 months prior to the interview. If an adult took more than four courses or training, four were 

sampled for data collection. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Adult Education Survey of the 2005 National Household Education 

Surveys Program. 
24 

Table 12. Number and percentage of adults who took personal-interest courses, by type of provider: 

2004-05 

Type of provider 

Number of adults 

(thousands) 

Percentage of 

adults 

 

 Total.................................................................................................................................................... 45,387 100 

 

Postsecondary school (college/university, community/junior college, 

 vocational/technical/occupational school)............................................................................................ 8,177 18 

Other school or school district (elementary, junior high, high school, or adult learning center) .......... 2,051 5 

Private business/company/hospital ............................................................................................................ 11,885 26 

Government agency (federal, state, or local)............................................................................................. 1,557 3 

Professional association/organization/union ............................................................................................. 2,064 5 

Public library ............................................................................................................................................... 322 1 

Community or religious organization, nonprofit....................................................................................... 23,409 52 

Other ............................................................................................................................................................ 1,025 2 

NOTE: Personal-interest courses are defined as any courses taken in the 12 months prior to the interview that had an instructor present and were not 

necessarily related to a job or career. Information was collected on up to two personal-interest courses taken in the 12 months prior to the interview. If 

an adult took more than two courses, two were sampled for data collection. Details do not sum to totals and percentages sum to more than 100 percent 

because people may take courses from more than one provider. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Adult Education Survey of the 2005 National Household Education 

Surveys Program. 

Table 12a. Standard errors of the number and percentage of adults who took personal-interest courses, 

by type of provider: 2004-05 

Type of provider 

Number of adults 

(thousands) 

Percentage of 

adults 

 

 Total.................................................................................................................................................... 1,501.2 † 

 

Postsecondary school (college/university, community/junior college, 

 vocational/technical/occupational school)............................................................................................ 720.0 1.5 

Other school or school district (elementary, junior high, high school, or adult learning center) .......... 262.4 0.6 

Private business/company/hospital ............................................................................................................ 736.4 1.5 

Government agency (federal, state, or local)............................................................................................. 231.8 0.5 

Professional association/organization/union ............................................................................................. 317.4 0.7 

Public library ............................................................................................................................................... 79.8 0.2 

Community or religious organization, nonprofit....................................................................................... 1,140.1 1.9 

Other ............................................................................................................................................................ 155.3 0.3 

†Not applicable. 

NOTE: Personal-interest courses are defined as any courses taken in the 12 months prior to the interview that had an instructor present and were not 

necessarily related to a job or career. Information was collected on up to two personal-interest courses taken in the 12 months prior to the interview. If 

an adult took more than two courses, two were sampled for data collection. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Adult Education Survey of the 2005 National Household Education 

Surveys Program. 
25 

Table 13. Average classroom instructional hours or credit hours for adults enrolled in adult 

educational activities over the past 12 months: 2004-05 

Learning activity 

Number of adults 

(thousands) 

Classroom 

instructional / 

credit hours per 

activity 

 

Classroom instructional hours

English as a Second Language classes............................................................................................................ 1,965 72 

Basic skills or GED preparation classes ......................................................................................................... 2,822 61 

Part-time vocational or technical diploma, degree, or certificate programs ............................................ 2,405 87 

Apprenticeship programs ........................................................................................................................ 2,508 62 

Work-related courses or training ............................................................................................................. 57,004 42 

Personal-interest courses......................................................................................................................... 45,387 59 

Credit hours

Part-time college or university degree or certificate programs ................................................................ 8,421 17 

Part-time vocational or technical diploma, degree, or certificate programs ............................................ 2,405 16 

NOTE: Adult educational activities do not include full-time only enrollments in college/university or vocational/technical credential programs. Adults 

participating in college/university or vocational/technical credential programs could report credit hours, if applicable, or classroom instructional hours. 

There were not enough adults reporting classroom instructional hours for college/university credential programs to include these data in the table. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Adult Education Survey of the 2005 National Household Education 

Surveys Program. 

Table 13a. Standard errors of average classroom instructional hours or credit hours for adults enrolled 

in adult educational activities over the past 12 months: 2004-05 

Learning activity 

Number of adults 

(thousands) 

Classroom 

instructional / 

credit hours per 

activity 

 

Classroom instructional hours

English as a Second Language classes............................................................................................................ 351.7 10.3 

Basic skills or GED preparation classes ......................................................................................................... 464.9 11.3 

Part-time vocational or technical diploma, degree, or certificate programs ............................................. 307.9 19.3 

Apprenticeship programs ........................................................................................................................ 372.8 8.3 

Work-related courses or training ............................................................................................................. 1,332.6 2.2 

Personal-interest courses.................................................................................................................................. 1,501.2 3.4 

Credit hours

Part-time college or university degree or certificate programs ................................................................ 536.9 1.1 

Part-time vocational or technical diploma, degree, or certificate programs ............................................. 307.9 3.0 

NOTE: Adult educational activities do not include full-time only enrollments in college/university or vocational/technical credential programs. Adults 

participating in college/university or vocational/technical credential programs could report credit hours, if applicable, or classroom instructional hours. 

There were not enough adults reporting classroom instructional hours for college/university credential programs to include these data in the table. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Adult Education Survey of the 2005 National Household Education 

Surveys Program. 
26 

Table 14. Percentage of adults enrolled in formal work-related courses or training who reported specific 

numbers of classroom instructional hours in the past 12 months, by selected adult 

characteristics: 2004-05 

Total instructional hours across courses or training 

Characteristic 

Number of 

adults 

(thousands) 10 hours or fewer 11 – 25 hours 26 – 50 hours 51 hours or more 

 

 Total.............................................. 57,004 33 24 20 22 

 

Age

 16 to 24 years ................................. 5,332 43 19 16 22 

 25 to 34 years ................................. 12,283 32 25 23 21 

 35 to 44 years ................................. 14,472 32 25 18 25 

 45 to 54 years ................................. 15,289 34 24 20 22 

 55 to 64 years ................................. 7,851 29 28 22 21 

 65 years or older............................. 1,778 35 24 20 21 

 

Sex 

 Male ................................................ 24,884 33 22 21 24 

 Female............................................. 32,120 34 26 20 21 

 

Race/ethnicity

 White, non-Hispanic ...................... 42,604 32 25 21 23 

 Black, non-Hispanic....................... 6,339 44 18 17 20 

 Hispanic .......................................... 4,385 36 24 19 21 

 Asian or Pacific Islander, 

 non-Hispanic............................ 1,719 28 32 22 18 

 Other race, non-Hispanic............... 1,957 32 21 21 26 

 

Highest education level completed

 Less than a high school 

 diploma/equivalent................... 1,309 37 28 17 19 

 High school diploma/ 

 equivalent.................................. 10,643 41 21 15 22 

 Some college/vocational/ 

 associate’s degree..................... 18,365 39 24 17 20 

 Bachelor’s degree........................... 16,322 28 26 24 23 

 Graduate or professional 

 education or degree.................. 10,366 23 26 25 26 

 

Household income

 $20,000 or less................................ 3,683 43 23 13 20 

 $20,001 to $35,000 ........................ 6,294 37 23 19 21 

 $35,001 to $50,000 ........................ 7,839 34 21 23 22 

 $50,001 to $75,000 ........................ 15,537 38 25 17 20 

 $75,001 or more ............................. 23,651 28 26 22 24 

See notes at end of table. 
27 

Table 14. Percentage of adults enrolled in formal work-related courses or training who reported specific 

numbers of classroom instructional hours in the past 12 months, by selected adult 

characteristics: 2004-05—Continued 

Total instructional hours across courses or training 

Characteristic 

Number of 

adults 

(thousands) 10 hours or fewer 11 – 25 hours 26 – 50 hours 51 hours or more 

 

Employment status 

 Employed full-time ........................ 43,083 31 24 22 23 

 Employed part-time ....................... 8,684 44 26 13 17 

 Unemployed and looking 

 for work..................................... 1,366 29 21 21 29 

 Not in the labor force ..................... 3,871 33 30 17 20 

 

Occupation

 Professional/managerial................. 27,401 29 26 24 22 

 Sales/service/clerical...................... 20,234 37 25 16 21 

 Trade and labor............................... 7,028 37 19 18 27 

NOTE: Work-related courses or training are defined as any formal courses or training taken in the 12 months prior to the interview that had an instructor 

present and were related to job or career, whether or not the respondent had a job when he or she took them. Information was collected on up to four 

work-related courses or training taken in the 12 months prior to the interview. If an adult took more than four courses or training, four were sampled for 

data collection. Time spent in work-related courses or training was weighted to account for the sub-sampling of courses/training. Details may not sum to 

totals because of rounding. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Adult Education Survey of the 2005 National Household Education 

Surveys Program. 
28 

Table 14a. Standard errors of the percentage of adults enrolled in formal work-related courses or training 

who reported specific numbers of classroom instructional hours in the past 12 months, by 

selected adult characteristics: 2004-05 

Total instructional hours across courses or training 

Characteristic 

Number of 

adults 

(thousands) 10 hours or fewer 11 – 25 hours 26 – 50 hours 51 hours or more 

 

 Total.............................................. 1,332.6 1.5 1.2 1.1 1.3 

 

Age

 16 to 24 years ................................. 587.2 7.4 3.6 4.0 5.3 

 25 to 34 years ................................. 828.4 3.4 2.8 2.8 2.2 

 35 to 44 years ................................. 978.1 2.7 2.6 2.1 2.9 

 45 to 54 years ................................. 735.1 2.4 2.2 1.7 2.4 

 55 to 64 years ................................. 499.2 2.9 3.1 2.2 2.3 

 65 years or older............................. 235.2 7.1 4.4 4.3 7.1 

 

Sex 

 Male ................................................ 1,004.7 2.7 1.8 1.7 2.1 

 Female............................................. 1,046.0 1.8 1.5 1.3 1.5 

 

Race/ethnicity 

 White, non-Hispanic ...................... 1,052.6 1.7 1.3 1.2 1.4 

 Black, non-Hispanic....................... 595.0 4.7 3.2 3.1 3.7 

 Hispanic .......................................... 447.0 6.5 5.3 6.8 4.3 

 Asian or Pacific Islander, 

 non-Hispanic............................ 319.6 8.3 10.6 5.8 6.0 

 Other race, non-Hispanic............... 302.0 8.6 6.3 4.6 6.7 

 

Highest education level completed

 Less than a high school 

 diploma/equivalent................... 227.1 9.0 7.6 6.6 6.0 

 High school diploma/ 

 equivalent.................................. 672.7 3.7 2.5 2.2 3.0 

 Some college/vocational/ 

 associate’s degree..................... 905.1 2.9 2.2 2.2 2.2 

 Bachelor’s degree........................... 763.0 2.2 2.3 2.1 2.1 

 Graduate or professional 

 education or degree.................. 609.5 3.4 2.3 2.8 3.0 

 

Household income

 $20,000 or less................................ 403.1 6.1 4.3 3.0 3.6 

 $20,001 to $35,000 ........................ 590.5 5.2 3.5 3.1 4.4 

 $35,001 to $50,000 ........................ 642.1 5.4 3.2 3.6 3.6 

 $50,001 to $75,000 ........................ 803.5 2.8 2.6 2.3 2.0 

 $75,001 or more ............................. 949.6 1.9 1.4 1.5 1.8 

See notes at end of table. 
29 

Table 14a. Standard errors of the percentage of adults enrolled in formal work-related courses or training 

who reported specific numbers of classroom instructional hours in the past 12 months, by 

selected adult characteristics: 2004-05—Continued 

Total instructional hours across courses or training 

Characteristic 

Number of 

adults 

(thousands) 10 hours or fewer 11 – 25 hours 26 – 50 hours 51 hours or more 

 

Employment status 

 Employed full-time ........................ 1,218.6 1.7 1.3 1.3 1.4 

 Employed part-time ....................... 692.3 4.9 3.1 2.0 2.8 

 Unemployed and looking 

 for work..................................... 210.0 8.1 5.6 7.0 9.4 

 Not in the labor force ..................... 390.5 5.8 4.8 3.0 4.5 

 

Occupation

 Professional/managerial................. 998.4 2.1 1.4 1.6 1.5 

 Sales/service/clerical...................... 1,031.6 3.1 2.2 2.1 2.4 

 Trade and labor............................... 646.0 4.7 3.1 3.6 4.6 

NOTE: Work-related courses or training are defined as any formal courses or training taken in the 12 months prior to the interview that had an instructor 

present and were related to job or career, whether or not the respondent had a job when he or she took them. Information was collected on up to four 

work-related courses or training taken in the 12 months prior to the interview. If an adult took more than four courses or training, four were sampled for 

data collection. Time spent in work-related courses or training was weighted to account for the sub-sampling of courses/training. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Adult Education Survey of the 2005 National Household Education 

Surveys Program. 
30 

Table 15. Percentage of adults enrolled in personal-interest courses who reported specific numbers of 

classroom instructional hours in the past 12 months, by selected adult characteristics: 2004-05 

Total instructional hours across courses 

Characteristic 

Number of 

adults 

(thousands) 10 hours or fewer 11 – 25 hours 26 – 50 hours 51 hours or more 

 

 Total.............................................. 45,387 24 24 19 34 

 

Age

 16 to 24 years ................................. 6,688 22 18 15 45 

 25 to 34 years ................................. 8,557 21 28 17 34 

 35 to 44 years ................................. 9,482 25 22 21 32 

 45 to 54 years ................................. 8,257 24 26 22 28 

 55 to 64 years ................................. 6,014 25 25 18 32 

 65 years or older............................. 6,389 26 23 20 32 

 

Sex 

 Male ................................................ 18,700 21 23 19 37 

 Female............................................. 26,687 26 24 19 31 

 

Race/ethnicity

 White, non-Hispanic ...................... 32,513 25 23 20 33 

 Black, non-Hispanic....................... 5,550 26 22 19 33 

 Hispanic .......................................... 4,001 19 29 17 34 

 Asian or Pacific Islander, 

 non-Hispanic............................ 1,664 19 33 15 34 

 Other race, non-Hispanic............... 1,659 15 26 15 44 

 

Highest education level completed

 Less than a high school 

 diploma/equivalent................... 3,455 29 20 13 38 

 High school diploma/ 

 equivalent.................................. 10,344 27 25 17 31 

 Some college/vocational/ 

 associate’s degree..................... 14,581 20 22 20 38 

 Bachelor’s degree........................... 10,963 25 27 17 31 

 Graduate or professional 

 education or degree.................. 6,043 24 18 28 30 

 

Household income

 $20,000 or less................................ 5,673 29 22 18 30 

 $20,001 to $35,000 ........................ 6,263 24 20 18 37 

 $35,001 to $50,000 ........................ 7,381 23 22 16 39 

 $50,001 to $75,000 ........................ 9,673 22 30 17 31 

 $75,001 or more ............................. 16,397 23 23 22 32 

See notes at end of table. 
31 

Table 15. Percentage of adults enrolled in personal-interest courses who reported specific numbers of 

classroom instructional hours in the past 12 months, by selected adult characteristics: 

2004-05—Continued 

Total instructional hours across courses 

Characteristic 

Number of 

adults 

(thousands) 10 hours or fewer 11 – 25 hours 26 – 50 hours 51 hours or more 

 

Employment status 

 Employed full-time ........................ 21,320 24 24 19 33 

 Employed part-time ....................... 7,903 19 25 19 37 

 Unemployed and looking 

 for work..................................... 2,240 27 25 16 32 

 Not in the labor force ..................... 13,924 24 23 20 33 

 

Occupation

 Professional/managerial................. 14,181 22 29 17 31 

 Sales/service/clerical...................... 14,538 25 20 20 35 

 Trade and labor............................... 4,851 21 21 19 38 

NOTE: Personal-interest courses are defined as any courses taken in the 12 months prior to the interview that had an instructor present and were not 

necessarily related to a job or career. Information was collected on up to two personal-interest courses taken in the 12 months prior to the interview. If an 

adult took more than two courses, two were sampled for data collection. Time spent in personal-interest courses was weighted to account for the subsampling of courses. Details may not sum to totals because of rounding. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Adult Education Survey of the 2005 National Household Education 

Surveys Program. 
32 

Table 15a. Standard errors of the percentage of adults enrolled in personal-interest courses who reported 

specific numbers of classroom instructional hours in the past 12 months, by selected adult 

characteristics: 2004-05 

Total instructional hours across courses 

Characteristic 

Number of 

adults 

(thousands) 10 hours or fewer 11 – 25 hours 26 – 50 hours 51 hours or more 

 

 Total.............................................. 1,501.2 1.5 1.4 1.2 1.8 

 

Age

 16 to 24 years ................................. 677.0 4.2 3.6 3.3 6.1 

 25 to 34 years ................................. 733.2 3.8 4.3 2.8 4.5 

 35 to 44 years ................................. 862.1 3.4 3.6 2.8 4.2 

 45 to 54 years ................................. 586.3 3.1 3.3 2.7 3.7 

 55 to 64 years ................................. 387.5 2.8 3.4 2.7 3.1 

 65 years or older............................. 387.3 2.9 2.2 2.9 2.9 

 

Sex 

 Male ................................................ 1,094.5 2.3 2.8 2.1 3.7 

 Female............................................. 971.1 1.7 1.7 1.4 1.9 

 

Race/ethnicity 

 White, non-Hispanic ...................... 1,313.6 1.8 1.5 1.3 2.2 

 Black, non-Hispanic....................... 496.5 4.9 4.1 3.4 4.6 

 Hispanic .......................................... 456.9 3.5 6.8 4.0 6.0 

 Asian or Pacific Islander, 

 non-Hispanic............................ 325.9 8.3 11.7 6.7 10.0 

 Other race, non-Hispanic............... 297.3 5.8 9.3 5.0 9.9 

 

Highest education level completed

 Less than a high school 

 diploma/equivalent................... 358.7 5.0 6.3 3.1 5.4 

 High school diploma/ 

 equivalent.................................. 760.5 3.7 3.6 2.8 4.0 

 Some college/vocational/ 

 associate’s degree..................... 900.9 2.4 2.7 2.5 3.6 

 Bachelor’s degree........................... 630.2 2.6 2.5 2.0 3.1 

 Graduate or professional 

 education or degree.................. 385.9 3.0 2.2 3.4 3.5 

 

Household income

 $20,000 or less................................ 626.4 4.5 4.0 3.3 6.1 

 $20,001 to $35,000 ........................ 504.8 3.7 3.8 3.0 3.8 

 $35,001 to $50,000 ........................ 718.0 4.0 3.2 3.8 5.1 

 $50,001 to $75,000 ........................ 811.9 2.8 3.3 2.5 2.9 

 $75,001 or more ............................. 742.6 2.1 1.8 2.3 2.9 

See notes at end of table. 
33 

Table 15a. Standard errors of the percentage of adults enrolled in personal-interest courses who reported 

specific numbers of classroom instructional hours in the past 12 months, by selected adult 

characteristics: 2004-05—Continued 

Total instructional hours across courses 

Characteristic 

Number of 

adults 

(thousands) 10 hours or fewer 11 – 25 hours 26 – 50 hours 51 hours or more 

 

Employment status 

 Employed full-time ........................ 1,240.4 2.5 2.4 1.9 3.0 

 Employed part-time ....................... 567.3 3.1 3.1 3.3 5.0 

 Unemployed and looking 

 for work..................................... 412.7 7.9 6.0 5.9 8.1 

 Not in the labor force ..................... 737.7 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.6 

 

Occupation

 Professional/managerial................. 825.1 2.4 2.6 2.1 3.1 

 Sales/service/clerical...................... 919.4 3.0 2.2 2.5 3.7 

 Trade and labor............................... 605.3 4.9 5.2 4.7 6.3 

NOTE: Personal-interest courses are defined as any courses taken in the 12 months prior to the interview that had an instructor present and were not 

necessarily related to a job or career. Information was collected on up to two personal-interest courses taken in the 12 months prior to the interview. If an 

adult took more than two courses, two were sampled for data collection. Time spent in personal-interest courses was weighted to account for the subsampling of courses. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Adult Education Survey of the 2005 National Household Education 

Surveys Program. 
34 

Table 16. Number and percentage of adults participating in adult education activities who reported using 

any type of distance education method in the past 12 months, by selected adult characteristics: 

2004-05

Characteristic Number of adults (thousands) Percentage of adults 

 

 Total...................................................................................................... 93,939 32 

 

Age

 16 to 24 years ......................................................................................... 13,286 28 

 25 to 34 years ......................................................................................... 20,229 28 

 35 to 44 years ......................................................................................... 20,896 35 

 45 to 54 years ......................................................................................... 20,032 36 

 55 to 64 years ......................................................................................... 11,715 33 

 65 years or older..................................................................................... 7,781 25 

 

Sex 

 Male ........................................................................................................ 41,724 34 

 Female..................................................................................................... 52,216 30 

 

Race/ethnicity

 White, non-Hispanic .............................................................................. 66,909 31 

 Black, non-Hispanic............................................................................... 10,878 35 

 Hispanic .................................................................................................. 9,824 30 

 Asian or Pacific Islander, 

 non-Hispanic................................................................................... 3,114 38 

 Other race, non-Hispanic....................................................................... 3,215 37 

 

Highest education level completed

 Less than a high school 

 diploma/equivalent.......................................................................... 6,851 21 

 High school diploma/ 

 equivalent......................................................................................... 20,955 33 

 Some college/vocational/ 

 associate’s degree............................................................................ 30,070 33 

 Bachelor’s degree.................................................................................. 22,459 31 

 Graduate or professional 

 education or degree......................................................................... 13,604 34 

 

Household income

 $20,000 or less....................................................................................... 9,552 32 

 $20,001 to $35,000 ............................................................................... 12,866 31 

 $35,001 to $50,000 ............................................................................... 14,122 29 

 $50,001 to $75,000 ............................................................................... 22,494 34 

 $75,001 or more .................................................................................... 34,904 32 

See notes at end of table. 
35 

Table 16. Number and percentage of adults participating in adult education activities who reported using 

any type of distance education method in the past 12 months, by selected adult characteristics: 

2004-05—Continued 

Characteristic Number of adults (thousands) Percentage of adults 

 

Employment status 

 Employed full-time ............................................................................... 56,906 35 

 Employed part-time .............................................................................. 14,430 29 

 Unemployed and looking 

 for work............................................................................................ 3,784 28 

 Not in the labor force ............................................................................ 18,819 26 

 

Occupation

 Professional/managerial........................................................................ 34,138 34 

 Sales/service/clerical............................................................................. 31,973 34 

 Trade and labor...................................................................................... 12,768 30 

NOTE: Adult educational activities exclude full-time college/university and vocational/technical credential programs. Distance education methods include 

the following: video tapes, CDs, DVDs, television, radio, the Internet or the World Wide Web, computer or video conferencing, mail, telephone or 

voicemail, or other types or remote instruction technology. Details may not sum to totals because of rounding. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Adult Education Survey of the 2005 National Household Education 

Surveys Program. 
36 

Table 16a. Standard errors of the number and percentage of adults participating in adult education activities 

who reported using any type of distance education method in the past 12 months, by selected 

adult characteristics: 2004-05

Characteristic Number of adults (thousands) Percentage of adults 

 

 Total...................................................................................................... 1,562.0 1.1 

 

Age

 16 to 24 years ........................................................................................ 844.0 3.6 

 25 to 34 years ........................................................................................ 981.8 2.3 

 35 to 44 years ........................................................................................ 1,028.1 2.7 

 45 to 54 years ........................................................................................ 857.9 2.2 

 55 to 64 years ........................................................................................ 633.9 2.3 

 65 years or older.................................................................................... 405.2 2.7 

 

Sex 

 Male ........................................................................................................ 1,215.0 2.0 

 Female..................................................................................................... 1,109.9 1.4 

 

Race/ethnicity

 White, non-Hispanic .............................................................................. 1,305.9 1.3 

 Black, non-Hispanic............................................................................... 659.6 3.3 

 Hispanic .................................................................................................. 634.4 4.1 

 Asian or Pacific Islander, 

 non-Hispanic.................................................................................... 408.7 7.0 

 Other race, non-Hispanic....................................................................... 363.3 5.2 

 

Highest education level completed

 Less than a high school 

 diploma/equivalent.......................................................................... 520.1 3.7 

 High school diploma/ 

 equivalent......................................................................................... 975.2 2.4 

 Some college/vocational/ 

 associate’s degree............................................................................ 1,163.5 2.0 

 Bachelor’s degree.................................................................................. 777.2 2.1 

 Graduate or professional 

 education or degree......................................................................... 653.1 2.5 

 

Household income

 $20,000 or less....................................................................................... 663.2 3.4 

 $20,001 to $35,000 ............................................................................... 667.3 2.7 

 $35,001 to $50,000 ............................................................................... 957.4 3.0 

 $50,001 to $75,000 ............................................................................... 1,007.1 2.4 

 $75,001 or more .................................................................................... 1,067.4 1.8 

See notes at end of table. 
37 

Table 16a. Standard errors of the number and percentage of adults participating in adult education activities 

who reported using any type of distance education method in the past 12 months, by selected 

adult characteristics: 2004-05—Continued 

Characteristic Number of adults (thousands) Percentage of adults 

 

Employment status 

 Employed full-time ............................................................................. 1,377.8 1.5 

 Employed part-time ............................................................................ 908.1 3.0 

 Unemployed and looking 

 for work.......................................................................................... 464.8 6.0 

 Not in the labor force .......................................................................... 925.1 1.9 

 

Occupation

 Professional/managerial...................................................................... 1,016.8 1.7 

 Sales/service/clerical........................................................................... 1,095.3 2.0 

 Trade and labor.................................................................................... 935.0 3.9 

NOTE: Adult educational activities exclude full-time college/university and vocational/technical credential programs. Distance education methods include 

the following: video tapes, CDs, DVDs, television, radio, the Internet or the World Wide Web, computer or video conferencing, mail, telephone or 

voicemail, or other types or remote instruction technology. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Adult Education Survey of the 2005 National Household Education 

Surveys Program. 
38 

Table 17. Number and percentage of adults who reported participating in informal learning activities for 

personal interest, by type of educational activity and selected adult characteristics: 2004-05 

Type of informal learning activities for personal interest 

Characteristic 

Number of 

adults 

(thousands) 

Any 

informal 

learning 

activities 

Computers, 

CD-ROM 

and internet 

Books, 

manuals, audio 

tapes, videos 

or TV 

Magazines 

or other 

publications 

Clubs or 

groups 

Conventions 

or 

conferences 

 

 Total.............................................. 211,607 70 28 47 53 20 23 

 

Age

 16 to 24 years ................................. 25,104 69 29 42 45 18 25 

 25 to 34 years ................................. 38,784 70 33 49 50 20 25 

 35 to 44 years ................................. 42,890 73 32 51 56 21 23 

 45 to 54 years ................................. 41,840 73 31 51 59 23 27 

 55 to 64 years ................................. 29,068 70 27 47 56 21 23 

 65 years or older............................. 33,922 64 15 38 49 17 17 

 

Sex 

 Male ................................................ 101,596 71 30 49 55 17 26 

 Female............................................. 110,011 70 26 45 52 24 21 

 

Race/ethnicity

 White, non-Hispanic ...................... 146,614 73 29 48 57 22 25 

 Black, non-Hispanic....................... 23,467 65 26 46 44 18 20 

 Hispanic .......................................... 26,101 57 20 37 38 14 16 

 Asian or Pacific Islander, 

 non-Hispanic............................ 7,080 78 33 47 57 14 20 

 Other race, non-Hispanic............... 8,346 74 35 55 57 26 28 

 

Highest education level completed

 Less than a high school 

 diploma/equivalent................... 31,017 46 8 27 27 6 11 

 High school diploma/ 

 equivalent.................................. 64,334 63 22 40 46 14 18 

 Some college/vocational/ 

 associate’s degree..................... 58,545 79 35 53 62 27 28 

 Bachelor’s degree........................... 37,244 79 37 56 64 24 30 

 Graduate or professional 

 education or degree.................. 20,466 89 42 66 70 34 36 

 

Household income

 $20,000 or less................................ 34,670 59 19 37 37 14 13 

 $20,001 to $35,000 ........................ 35,839 67 21 45 47 16 20 

 $35,001 to $50,000 ........................ 33,376 71 27 46 51 18 22 

 $50,001 to $75,000 ........................ 47,114 71 31 47 56 22 24 

 $75,001 or more ............................. 60,607 78 35 55 65 26 32 

See notes at end of table. 
39 

Table 17. Number and percentage of adults who reported participating in informal learning activities for 

personal interest, by type of educational activity and selected adult characteristics: 

2004-05—Continued 

Type of informal learning activities for personal interest 

Characteristic 

Number of 

adults 

(thousands) 

Any 

informal 

learning 

activities 

Computers, 

CD-ROM 

and internet 

Books, 

manuals, audio 

tapes, videos 

or TV 

Magazines 

or other 

publications 

Clubs or 

groups 

Conventions 

or 

conferences 

 

Employment status 

 Employed full-time ........................ 106,388 72 32 50 56 20 27 

 Employed part-time ....................... 27,090 78 33 52 58 25 29 

 Unemployed and looking 

 for work..................................... 9,941 67 29 49 41 16 16 

 Not in the labor force ..................... 68,187 65 19 40 49 19 17 

 

Occupation

 Professional/managerial................. 48,647 83 42 61 66 26 32 

 Sales/service/clerical...................... 66,218 69 30 45 51 20 24 

 Trade and labor............................... 37,585 66 24 44 50 15 23 

NOTE: All respondents were asked about informal learning activities for personal interest undertaken within the previous 12 months. Fuller 

descriptions of each of these activities can be found in the Glossary. Details may not sum to totals because of rounding. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Adult Education Survey of the 2005 National Household Education 

Surveys Program. 
40 

Table 17a. Standard errors of the number and percentage of adults who reported participating in 

informal learning activities for personal interest, by type of educational activity and selected 

adult characteristics: 2004-05 

Type of informal learning activities for personal interest 

Characteristic 

Number of 

adults 

(thousands) 

Any 

informal 

learning 

activities 

Computers, 

CD-ROM 

and internet 

Books, 

manuals, audio 

tapes, videos 

or TV 

Magazines 

or other 

publications 

Clubs or 

groups 

Conventions 

or 

conferences 

 

 Total.............................................. † 0.8 0.8 0.9 0.8 0.6 0.7 

 

Age

 16 to 24 years ................................. 1,083.2 2.6 2.8 2.9 2.7 2.3 3.1 

 25 to 34 years ................................. 1,440.7 2.2 2.1 2.2 2.4 1.6 1.7 

 35 to 44 years ................................. 1,124.3 1.8 1.8 2.2 2.1 1.6 1.7 

 45 to 54 years ................................. 1,403.8 1.7 1.5 1.6 1.8 1.4 1.5 

 55 to 64 years ................................. 844.5 2.0 1.6 2.3 1.9 1.3 1.4 

 65 years or older............................. 931.4 1.5 1.2 1.7 1.6 1.0 1.2 

 

Sex 

 Male ................................................ † 1.1 1.1 1.3 1.2 0.9 1.1 

 Female............................................. † 1.0 1.0 1.2 1.0 0.9 0.9 

 

Race/ethnicity

 White, non-Hispanic ...................... 960.1 0.9 0.9 1.0 1.0 0.7 0.9 

 Black, non-Hispanic....................... 15.9 2.0 2.2 2.5 2.2 1.9 2.1 

 Hispanic .......................................... † 2.9 1.9 2.7 2.6 1.7 1.6 

 Asian or Pacific Islander, 

 non-Hispanic............................ 649.3 4.3 4.4 5.8 5.0 2.9 4.2 

 Other race, non-Hispanic............... 715.5 4.5 4.9 4.9 4.8 3.9 4.2 

 

Highest education level completed

 Less than a high school 

 diploma/equivalent................... 225.8 2.1 0.9 2.1 1.9 0.8 2.0 

 High school diploma/ 

 equivalent.................................. 1,081.3 1.8 1.5 1.7 1.6 1.2 1.3 

 Some college/vocational/ 

 associate’s degree..................... 1,366.1 1.2 1.5 1.6 1.4 1.6 1.4 

 Bachelor’s degree........................... 930.2 1.6 1.3 1.7 1.6 1.1 1.4 

 Graduate or professional 

 education or degree.................. 731.1 1.2 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.1 2.4 

 

Household income 

 $20,000 or less................................ 643.6 2.2 1.6 2.0 2.2 1.6 1.8 

 $20,001 to $35,000 ........................ 1,269.7 2.0 1.5 1.9 2.1 1.3 1.6 

 $35,001 to $50,000 ........................ 1,463.0 2.2 2.1 2.0 2.3 1.8 1.9 

 $50,001 to $75,000 ........................ 1,520.9 2.2 1.8 1.9 2.1 1.4 1.5 

 $75,001 or more ............................. 1,307.8 1.3 1.6 1.5 1.4 1.1 1.3 

See notes at end of table. 
41 

Table 17a. Standard errors of the number and percentage of adults who reported participating in 

informal learning activities for personal interest, by type of educational activity and selected 

adult characteristics: 2004-05—Continued 

Type of informal learning activities for personal interest 

Characteristic 

Number of 

adults 

(thousands) 

Any 

informal 

learning 

activities 

Computers, 

CD-ROM 

and internet 

Books, 

manuals, audio 

tapes, videos 

or TV 

Magazines 

or other 

publications 

Clubs or 

groups 

Conventions 

or 

conferences 

 

Employment status 

 Employed full-time ........................ 1,707.2 1.3 1.1 1.3 1.2 0.9 1.0 

 Employed part-time ....................... 1,186.2 2.0 2.3 2.4 2.1 2.2 2.4 

 Unemployed and looking 

 for work..................................... 696.0 3.8 4.0 4.1 3.9 2.8 2.5 

 Not in the labor force ..................... 1,384.2 1.3 0.9 1.3 1.3 1.0 1.1 

 

Occupation

 Professional/managerial................. 1,133.9 1.2 1.5 1.5 1.3 1.2 1.3 

 Sales/service/clerical...................... 1,639.1 1.5 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.3 1.5 

 Trade and labor............................... 1,108.4 2.1 1.9 2.2 2.2 1.8 1.8 

†Not applicable. Due to the estimation procedures used, every possible sample drawn from the population would have yielded the same value for the 

total estimate, for totals by sex, and for totals by race/ethnicity (Hispanic only). Thus, the standard error, a measure of sampling variability, is zero. 

NOTE: All respondents were asked about informal learning activities for personal interest undertaken within the previous 12 months. Fuller 

descriptions of each of these activities can be found in the Glossary. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Adult Education Survey of the 2005 National Household Education 

Surveys Program. 
42 

This page is intentionally blank. 
43 

Appendix A: Technical Notes 

Survey Methodology and Data Reliability 

The National Household Education Surveys Program (NHES) is a set of telephone surveys sponsored 

by the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). NHES surveys 

focused on adult education in 1991, 1995, 1999, 2001, 2003, and 2005. This report presents data from the 

Adult Education (AE) Survey of the 2005 NHES (AE-NHES:2005). The AE Survey for 2005 focuses on 

adult education for both work-related and personal interest reasons. AE-NHES:2005 survey data collection 

was conducted by Westat and took place from January 3 through April 24 of 2005. This section provides a 

brief description of the study methodology. 

The NHES:2005 sample was selected using a multiple stage sampling framework and the data were 

collected using computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) technology. The first stage of selection in 

NHES:2005 was the selection of a list-assisted random digit dial (RDD) sample of telephone numbers, with 

areas with high percentages of Black and Hispanic residents sampled at higher rates than those in areas with 

low percentages of Black and Hispanic residents. In the second stage, the sampled telephone numbers were 

classified as mailable or nonmailable depending on whether they could be matched to a mailing address in the 

white pages telephone directory or from other databases. In order to limit respondent burden, adults were 

sampled at a lower rate in households that contained children eligible for the Early Childhood Program 

Participation (ECPP) Survey and the After-School Programs and Activities (ASPA) Survey. Adult education 

participants were sampled at a higher rate than nonparticipants in order to improve the precision of estimates 

of characteristics of participants. The only person who could respond to the AE interview was the sampled 

adult. The AE sample is a cross-sectional, national sample that provides information on civilian, 

noninstitutionalized persons age 16 or older and not enrolled in grade 12 or below. 

The AE survey focused on participation in the following types of educational activities: English as a 

Second Language, basic skills/GED preparation, college or university degree or certificate programs, 

vocational or technical diploma, degree, or certificate programs, apprenticeships, self-reported career-or jobrelated courses or training, self-reported personal-interest courses, and informal learning activities for 

personal interest. In addition, respondents were also asked about employer support for educational activities, 

reasons for participation, and participation through distance education. Demographic, household, and detailed 

employment information was also gathered. Multiple attempts were made to complete interviews with 

persons not available at the time of selection. Interviews were conducted in both English (95 percent) and 

Spanish (5 percent). This report is based on the 8,904 completed interviews with adults representing a 

weighted total of 211,607,007 adults. 

Data Reliability and Validity

Estimates produced using data from the survey are subject to two types of error, sampling and 

nonsampling errors. Nonsampling errors are errors made in the collection and processing of data. Sampling 

errors occur because the data are collected from a sample rather than the whole population. 

Nonsampling Errors

Nonsampling error is the term used to describe variations in the estimates that may be caused by 

population coverage limitations and data collection, processing, and reporting procedures. The sources of 

nonsampling errors are typically problems like unit2

 and item nonresponse, the differences in respondents' 

interpretations of the meaning of the questions, response differences related to the particular time the survey 

was conducted, and mistakes in data preparation. In the AE-NHES:2005 survey, efforts were made to 

 

2

 In the AE-NHES:2005 survey, the unit nonresponse rate for the adult education component is defined as the percentage of eligible sampled 

adults who do not complete the survey. 
44 

minimize nonsampling error through cognitive testing in the survey design stage, a two-stage field test of the 

survey, on-line data edits and post-interview edits, and a comparison of the survey estimates with similar 

estimates from previous surveys. 

An important source of nonsampling error for a telephone survey is the failure to include persons who 

do not live in households with telephones (a population coverage limitation). This is particularly problematic 

in RDD surveys because so little is known about the sampled telephone numbers of these individuals. The 

March 2005 Current Population Survey (CPS) shows that 93.3 percent of all adults ages 16 or older live in 

households with telephones (based on independent tabulations of the March 2005 Current Population Survey 

– U.S. Census Bureau 2005). Estimation procedures were used to help reduce the bias in the estimates 

associated with excluding the 7 percent of adults who do not live in households with telephones. An issue that 

has arisen in recent years is households that have cell phones rather than landlines. As more data on cell 

phone-only households is collected, its impact on nonsampling errors will be further addressed. 

A study was conducted by Montaquila, Brick, and Brock (1997) examining telephone coverage bias 

for subsamples of the population in NHES:1996. This study found that with very few exceptions, the adjusted 

weights yielded estimates with absolute telephone coverage bias of 2 percent or less. Undercoverage bias for 

some subgroups may have been large due to larger proportions of persons in these subgroups residing in nontelephone households. 

Another potential source of nonsampling error is respondent bias. Respondent bias occurs when 

respondents systematically misreport (intentionally or unintentionally) information in a study. There are many 

different forms of respondent bias. One of the best known is social desirability bias, which occurs when 

respondents give what they believe is the socially desirable response (Demaio 1984). For example, surveys 

that ask about whether respondents voted in the most recent election typically obtain a higher estimate of the 

number of people who voted than do voting records. Although respondent bias may affect the accuracy of the 

results, it does not necessarily invalidate other results from a survey. If there are no systematic differences 

among specific groups under study in their tendency to give socially desirable responses, then comparisons of 

the different groups will accurately reflect differences among the groups. For the AE-NHES:2005 survey, 

given the nature of the questions being asked, i.e., mostly informative and not related to opinions or attitudes, 

it is not likely that there was much social desirability bias.

Response Rates

In the AE-NHES:2005 survey, Screener interviews were completed with 58,140 households, with a 

weighted Screener unit response rate of 66.9 percent. A screener was used to collect information on 

household composition and interview eligibility. A total of 8,904 adults completed the AE interview, for a 

weighted unit response rate of 71.2 percent and an overall estimated unit response rate (the product of the 

Screener unit response rate and the AE unit response rate) of 47.6 percent. 

A unit nonresponse bias analysis was undertaken for NHES:2003. This involved the examination of 

unit response rates as a whole and for various subgroups. The analysis was done to determine characteristics 

that are associated with Screener unit nonresponse, and to compare estimates of interest based on adjusted and 

unadjusted weights. These investigations revealed no evidence of unit nonresponse bias. An extensive unit 

nonresponse bias was conducted in 2001 to analyze the effect of weighting on estimates, as well as to 

examine the effect of various data collection procedures (refusal conversion, second refusal conversion, and 

varying numbers of call attempts) on the estimates (See Brick et al. forthcoming). For each hypothetical data 

collection scenario considered in this study, the sample was reweighted, and the estimates were compared 

across scenarios. For this analysis of unit nonresponse bias, as well, there was no evidence of bias in the 

weighted estimates as the data collection effort was varied. While such an analysis is unable to directly 

examine bias due to the exclusion of cases that did not respond under any of the scenarios studied, other 

approaches have been used in NHES to evaluate that bias, including comparisons of NHES estimates to those 

from other data sources. All such studies are limited in the variables that can be included; unit nonresponse 

bias may still be present in other variables that were not studied. 
45 

Item nonresponse (i.e., the failure to complete some items in an otherwise completed interview) was 

very low for most items in the AE-NHES:2005 survey. The item nonresponse rate for most variables included 

in this report was 3 percent or lower. The one item with nonresponse rates larger than 10 percent was the item 

related to household income. Items with missing data were imputed using a hot-deck procedure (Rao and 

Shao, 1992) in which cells are formed that contain cases with similar characteristics and a donor value is used 

to impute the missing value. The estimates included in this report are based on the imputed data. 

Sampling Errors 

The sample of telephone households selected for the AE-NHES:2005 survey is just one of many 

possible samples that could have been selected. Therefore, estimates produced from this sample may differ 

from estimates that would have been produced from other samples. This type of variability is called sampling 

error because it arises from using a sample of households with telephones, rather than having surveyed all 

households with telephones. 

The standard error is a measure of the variability due to sampling when estimating a statistic; standard 

errors for estimates presented in this report were computed using a jackknife replication method. Standard 

errors can be used as a measure of the precision expected from a particular sample. The probability that a 

sample estimate would differ from the population parameter obtained from a complete census count by less 

than 1 standard error is about 68 percent. The chance that the difference would be less than 1.65 standard 

errors is about 90 percent; and that the difference would be less than 1.96 standard errors, about 95 percent. 

Standard errors for all of the estimates are presented in the tables. These standard errors can be used 

to produce confidence intervals. For example, an estimated 44 percent of adults reported in 2005 that they 

participated in some type of formal adult education in the 12 months prior to the interview. This figure has an 

estimated standard error of 0.7 percent. Therefore, the estimated 95 percent confidence interval for this 

statistic is approximately 43 to 45 percent (44 ± 1.96 (0.7)). That is, if the processes of selecting a sample, 

collecting the data, and constructing the confidence interval were repeated, it would be expected that in 95 out 

of 100 samples from the same population, the confidence interval would contain the true participation rate. 

Weighting 

All of the estimates in this report are based on weighting the observations using the probabilities of 

selection of the respondents and other adjustments to partially account for nonresponse and coverage bias. 

Weights were developed to produce unbiased and consistent estimates of national totals. The weight used in 

this report is FAWT, the weight variable used to estimate the characteristics of adults. In addition to properly 

weighting the responses, special procedures for estimating the statistical significance of the estimates were 

employed because the NHES:2005 data were collected using a complex sample design. Complex sample 

designs result in data that violate some of the assumptions that are normally made when assessing the 

statistical significance of results from a simple random sample. Frequently, the standard errors of the 

estimates from these surveys are larger than would be expected if the sample was a simple random sample 

and the observations were independent and identically distributed random variables. Eighty replicate weights, 

FAWT1 to FAWT80, were used to produce estimates of the sampling errors of estimates. The estimates and 

standard errors presented in this report were produced using WesVar Complex Samples software and a 

jackknife replication procedure (Westat 2000). 

Statistical Tests 

The tests of significance used in this report are based on two-tailed tests using Student’s t statistics for 

the comparison of individual estimates and for bivariate relationships. To test the differences between 

estimates, unbiased estimates of standard errors were used, derived by jackknife replication methods. To test 
46 

for a difference in proportions between two subgroups in the population having a particular characteristic, say 

P1 versus P2 , the test statistic is computed as: 

[ ] ( ) [ ] ( ) 2

2

2

1

2 1

s.e. p s.e. p

p p t

+

− = , 

where pi is the estimated proportion of subgroup i (i = 1, 2) having the particular characteristic and ( ) pi s.e.

is the standard error of that estimate. Thus, if p1 is the 47 percent of females who reported having participated 

in any formal adult education in the 12 months prior to the interview, with a standard error of 1.0, and p2 is 

the 41 percent of males who reported having participated in any formal adult education in the 12 months prior 

to the interview, with a standard error of 1.2, then the t value is equal to 3.84. 

The decision rule is to reject the null hypothesis (i.e., that there is no difference between the two 

groups in the population in terms of the proportion having the characteristic) if 

df

t t ;

2

| |> α , where 

df

t ;

2

α is the 

value such that the probability that a random variable having a Student’s t distribution with df degrees of 

freedom exceeds that value is α 2 . 
47 

Appendix B: Glossary 

The statistics and population and activity characteristics used in analyses for this report are described 

below. These characteristics include adult education categories and the characteristics of learning activities 

within these categories and the sociodemographic, labor force, and other characteristics of adults that are used 

throughout the report. The original variables used in the analyses for this report are described below. 

When the variable is in the Adult Education data file for the National Household Education Surveys 

Program, the variable name appears in parentheses. 

Statistics

Alpha – The Greek letter alpha (α) indicates the probability of rejecting the statistical hypothesis 

tested when in fact, that hypothesis is true. For an alpha of 0.05, this is the equivalent of asserting that you 

will reject the hypothesis tested if the obtained statistic is among those that would occur only 5 out of 100 

times that random samples are drawn from a population in which the hypothesis is true. 

Coefficient of variation – The coefficient of variation or CV is a measure of dispersion of a 

probability distribution. It is defined as the ratio of the standard deviation to the mean. The coefficient of 

variation is a dimensionless number that allows comparison of the variation of populations that have 

significantly different mean values. It is often reported as on a scale of 0 to 100% by multiplying the above 

calculation by 100. 

Mean (or average) – The mean is one of several indices of central tendency that statisticians use to 

indicate the point on the scale of measures where the population is centered. The mean is the average of the 

scores or values in the population. Numerically, it equals the sum of the scores divided by the number of 

scores. 

Median – The median is one of several indices of central tendency that statisticians use to indicate 

the point on the scale of measures where the population is centered. The median of a population is the point 

that divides the distribution of scores in half. Numerically, half of the scores in a population will have values 

that are equal to or larger than the median and half will have values that are equal to or smaller than the 

median. 

Percentage – A percentage is a part of a whole expressed in hundredths. For example, 5 out of 50 = 

5/50 = .10 *100 = 10 percent. 

Sampling distribution – The sampling distribution of a statistic is the set of values that would be 

obtained if an infinite number of random samples from a given population were drawn and the statistic on 

each sample was calculated. In doing so, all samples must be of the same size (n). 

Standard deviation – The standard deviation is one of several indices of variability that is used to 

characterize the dispersion among the measures in a given population. To calculate the standard deviation of 

a population it is first necessary to calculate that population's variance (defined below). Numerically, the 

standard deviation is the square root of the variance. 

Standard error – The standard error, or standard error of the mean, is an estimate of the standard 

deviation of the sampling distribution of means, based on the data from one or more random samples. 

Numerically, it is equal to the square root of the quantity obtained when the estimated variance of a sample 

estimate is divided by the size of the sample. 
48 

Variance – The variance is one of several indices of variability used to characterize the dispersion 

among the measures in a given population. To calculate the variance of a given population, it is necessary to 

first calculate the mean of the scores, then measure the amount that each score deviates from the mean and 

then square that deviation (by multiplying it by itself). Numerically, the variance equals the average of the 

several squared deviations from the mean. 

Formal Adult Education Categories

Any formal adult education (AEPARTIC) indicates participation in any formal adult educational 

activities in the 12 months prior to the interview, excluding full-time only enrollments in college/university or 

vocational/technical credential programs. Included in this are the following: English as a Second Language 

(ESL) classes, basic skills or GED preparation classes, part-time college or university degree or certificate 

programs, part-time vocational or technical diploma, degree, or certificate programs, apprenticeship 

programs, self-reported work-related courses or training, and self-reported personal-interest courses. 

ESL classes (ESLANG) indicates participation in classes or utilization of a tutor in the 12 months 

prior to the interview to learn English as a Second Language. 

Basic skills/GED preparation classes (BSIMPROV, BSGED, BSHSEQUV) indicates participation 

in classes or utilization of a tutor in the 12 months prior to the interview to either improve basic reading, 

writing, and math skills, prepare to take the General Educational Development (GED) test, or complete some 

other high school equivalency program or adult high school program. 

College/university degree or certificate programs (CRDEGREE, CRPOSTDG, CRPTFT1-3) 

indicates participation in college or university degree or certificate programs in the 12 months prior to the 

interview to earn a college or university degree or certificate. Respondents can report participation in 

multiple college or university degree or certificate programs. Such degrees and certificates include an 

associate’s, bachelor’s, or graduate degree, or post-baccalaureate certificate, post-master’s certificate, or postdoctoral certificate. Adults enrolled only in full-time college or university credential programs are not 

included in the analyses of college/university program adult participants. 

Vocational/technical diploma, degree, or certificate programs (CRVOCDIP, VOPTFT1-3) 

indicates participation in vocational or technical diploma, degree, or certificate programs in the 12 months 

prior to the interview to earn a vocational or technical diploma, degree, or certificate (after high school). 

Respondents can report participation in multiple vocational or technical diploma, degree, or certificate 

programs. Adults enrolled only in full-time vocational or technical credential programs are not included in the 

analyses of vocational/technical school program adult participants. 

Apprenticeship (APPRENTI) indicates participation in apprenticeship programs, which are defined 

as formal programs taken in the 12 months prior to the interview that lead to journeyman status in a skilled 

trade or craft. 

Work-related courses or training (WRACTY) indicates self-reported participation in work-related 

courses or training, which are defined as any formal courses or training taken in the 12 months prior to the 

interview that had an instructor present and were related to job or career, whether or not the respondent had a 

job when he or she took them. Also, these delineated courses or training were not part of college or vocational 

degree, diploma, or certificate programs or apprenticeship programs. All courses or training taken in the 12 

months prior to the interview were enumerated and detailed information was collected on up to four workrelated courses or training. If an adult took more than four courses or training, four were sampled for data 

collection. 

Personal-interest courses (SAACTY) indicates self-reported participation in personal-interest 

courses, which are defined as any courses taken for personal interest or development that had an instructor 

present and were not necessarily related to one’s job or career. All courses taken in the 12 months prior to the 
49 

interview were enumerated and detailed information was collected on up to two personal-interest courses. If 

an adult took more than two courses, two were sampled for data collection. 

 

Sociodemographic and Labor Force Characteristics of Adults 

Age (AAGE2004) indicates the age of the adult respondent and is derived from the continuous 

variable AAGE2004 utilizing the following age breakdowns: 16–24, 25–34, 35–44, 45–54, 55–64, 65 or 

older. 

Sex (SEX) indicates the gender of the adult respondent with the categories being Male and Female. 

Race/ethnicity (RACEETH2) indicates the race/ethnicity of the adult respondent and is broken down 

into the following categories: White, non-Hispanic, Black, non-Hispanic, Hispanic, Asian or Pacific Islander, 

non-Hispanic, Other race, non-Hispanic. The Other race, non-Hispanic category includes more than one race. 

Highest education level (IBGRADE, IBDIPL) indicates the highest education level of the adult 

respondent, including diplomas, degrees, etc. obtained by the adult respondent. The variable is derived using 

a combination of IBGRADE (What is the highest grade or year of school that you completed?) and IBDIPL 

(Do you have a high school diploma or its equivalent, such as a GED?). The categories are derived as 

follows: 

Less than a high school diploma/equivalent 1<=IBGRADE<=3 and IBDIPL=2 

High school diploma/equivalent 1<=IBGRADE<=3 and IBDIPL=1 or 

 IBGRADE=4 and IBDIPL=-1 

Some college/vocational/associate’s degree 5<=IBGRADE<=8 and IBDIPL=1 or 2 

Bachelor’s degree IBGRADE=9 or 10 and IBDIPL=-1 

Graduate or professional degree 11<=IBGRADE<=13 and IBDIPL=-1 

Household income (HINCOME) indicates total income including salaries or other earnings, interest, 

retirement, and so on of the household in which the adult respondent resided. It is derived from the variable 

HINCOME which breaks down household income into categories with increments of $5,000 or more. The 

aggregated categories used for these analyses are as follows: $20,000 or less, $20,001 - $35,000, $35,001 - 

$50,000, $50,001 - $75,000, and $75,001 or more. 

Employment status (AELABOR) indicates the adult respondent’s labor force status within the past 

week or month prior to the interview. Adults are classified as working full-time (35 hours or more weekly), 

working part-time (less than 35 hours weekly), unemployed and looking for work, and not in the labor force. 

Occupation (IBWORK12, OCCGRP) indicates the respondent’s employment status (Did you work 

at a job for pay or income at any time in the past 12 months, including self-employment? – IBWORK12) and 

occupation during the 12 months prior to the interview. The occupational information is provided by the 

respondents and stored as variables PROFESSN (What kind of work are you doing?) and DUTIES/DUTIES2 

(What are your most important activities or duties?) which are only available on the restricted-use data file. 

However, this information was used to code the variable, FSOC, which is available on the public-use data 

file. FSOC represents that Standard Occupational Classification or SOC codes used by the federal 

government to classify occupations. Then the OCCGRP variable, used for these analyses and available on the 

public-use data file, is derived from the FSOC variable as specified below. 

FSOC:

1. Executive, Administrative, Managerial Occupations 

2. Engineers, Surveyors, and Architects 

3. Natural Scientists and Mathematicians 

4. Social Scientists, Social/Religious Workers and Lawyers 

5. Teachers: College, University, and Other 
50 

6. Teachers, except Postsecondary Institution 

7. Health Diagnosing and Treating Practitioners 

8. Registered Nurses, Pharmacists, Dieticians, and Therapists 

9. Writers/Artists/Entertainers/Athletes 

10. Health Technologists and Technicians 

11. Technologists and Technicians, except Health 

12. Marketing and Sales Occupations 

13. Administrative Support Occupations, including Clerical 

14. Service Occupations 

15. Agricultural, Forestry, and Fishing Occupations 

16. Mechanics and Repairers 

17. Construction/Extractive Occupations 

18. Precision and Production Working Occupations 

19. Transportation and Material Moving Occupations 

20. Miscellaneous Occupations 

The OCCGRP represents a three-level categorization of occupational codes by type of work based on the 

condensing of FSOC codes into these three categories. The three levels are delineated below. 

OCCGRP 

Professional/managerial/administrative FSOC categories 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 

Sales/service/clerical FSOC categories 11, 12, 13, 14, 20 

Trade and labor FSOC categories 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 

Other Adult and Activity Characteristics

Reasons for taking classes or courses were asked in a series of Yes or No questions. The specific reasons 

are listed below by type of adult educational activity. Data from these items are presented in tables 2-4. 

ESL classes: 

ESCHIL – To help your children with school work? 

ESUSCIT – To get U.S. citizenship? 

ESJOB – To get a new job with a different employer? 

ESRAISE – To help you get a raise or promotion? 

ESCOLVOC – To be able to attend college or vocational school? 

ESPUBAST – To meet a requirement for public assistance? 

ESFEEL – To improve the way you feel about yourself? 

ESLIFE – To make it easier to do things on a day-to-day basis? 

Basic skills/GED preparation classes: 

BSCHIL – To help your children with school work? 

BSJOB – To get a new job with a different employer? 

BSRAISE – To help you get a raise or promotion? 

BSCOLVOC – To be able to attend college or vocational school? 

BSPUBAST – To meet a requirement for public assistance? 

BSFEEL – To improve the way you feel about yourself? 

BSLIFE – To make it easier to do things on a day-to-day basis? 

Work-related courses or training: 

WRRSSKI1-4 – To maintain or improve skills or knowledge you already had? 

WRNWSKI1-4 – To learn new skills or methods you did not already know? 

WRRSRAI1-4 – To help you get a raise or promotion? 
51 

WRRSNEW1-4 – To get a new job with a different employer? 

WRRSCER1-4 – To get or keep a state, industry, or company certificate or license? 

WRRSREQ1-4 – Because you were required to take it? 

Employer support questions were asked of adult education participants who were working at the 

time that they were enrolled in courses or programs discussed in the survey. Employer support questions 

were asked as a series of yes or no questions. Data from these items are presented in tables 5-6. For college 

or university degree or certificate program participants, items asked about financial support in the form of full 

or partial payments for tuition and fees (CREMPTU1-3) or books and materials (CREMPMA1-3), program 

offerings at the workplace (CRWRKPL1-3), allowances to take programs during regular work hours 

(CRWRKHR1-3), and payment by employer while taking courses (CREMPAI1-3). For vocational or 

technical diploma, degree, or certificate program participants, parallel items were asked (VOEMPTU1-3, 

VOEMPMA1-3, VOWRKPL1-3, VOWRKHR1-3, and VOEMPAI1-3, respectively). Data for work-related 

course or training participants, were drawn from the corresponding items WREMPTU1-4, WREMPMA1-4, 

WRWRKPL1-4, WRWRKHR1-4, and WREMPAI1-4. 

Out-of-pocket expenses (table 7) asked respondents to delineate how much of their own or their own 

families’ money they used to pay for the courses, classes, or training over the past 12 months. Respondents 

are asked first about tuition and fees, and then about books and other materials (ESL participants - 

ESTUITON, ESMATLS; basic skills/GED preparation participants - BSTUITON, BSMATLS; college or 

university degree or certificate program participants- CRTUITO1-3, CRMATLS1-3; vocational or technical 

diploma, degree, or certificate program participants - VOTUITO1-3, VOMATLS1-3; apprenticeship program 

participants - APTUITON, APMATLS; work-related course or training participants - WRTUITO1-4, 

WRMATLS1-4; and personal-interest course participants - SATUITO1-2, SAMTLS1-2). 

Provider type information (tables 8-12) was collected through a series of questions about who 

provided the courses, classes, or training for each program or course in which the respondent participated. 

ESL participants were asked ESPRTYP, basic skills/GED preparation participants were asked BSPRTYP, 

work-related course or training participants were asked WRPRTYP1-4, and personal-interest course 

participants were asked SAPRTYP1-2. 

Classroom instructional hours or credit hours are detailed in tables 13-15. Respondents who 

report participating in a particular activity are asked to delineate the number of classroom instructional hours 

or credit hours for which they participated in the courses, classes, or training over the past 12 months (ESL 

participants - ESHRYR; basic skills/GED preparation participants - BSHRYR; college or university degree or 

certificate program participants - CRCRDHR1-3; vocational or technical diploma, degree, or certificate 

program participants - VOCRDHR1-3, VOCLSHR1-3; apprenticeship program participants - APCLSHR; 

work-related course or training participants - WRTIME (derived variable); and personal-interest course 

participants - SATIME (derived variable)). College/university hours are presented as credit hours. 

Vocational/technical hours are presented as both credit hours and classroom instructional hours. For both of 

these sections, only respondents who stated that credit hours did not apply to their program were asked about 

classroom instructional hours. There were not enough college/university program participants reporting that 

credit hours did not apply to their programs to be able to report classroom instructional hours but there were 

enough vocational/technical program participants who reported that credit hours did not apply to their 

programs to be able to report both.

Distance education information was reported in table 16. Respondents who reported having 

participated in adult educational activities were asked to specify whether or not they used certain types of 

distance education methods in their courses, classes, or training. These included CDs or DVDs 

(DEVIDTCD), television or radio (DETVRAD), the Internet or World Wide Web (DEWWW), computer 

conferencing or video conferencing (DECOMP), mail (DEMAIL), telephone or voicemail (DEPHONE), and 

any other types of methods (DEOTH). Respondents were informed that they were to exclude technology 

utilized in a class with an instructor present. 
52 

Informal learning activities for personal interest were addressed in a series of Yes or No questions 

about activities in the past 12 months (table 17). Activities included self-learning using computer software 

tutorials (PICOMP), reading books or manuals or watching videos or TV (PISELF), reading how-to 

magazines or consumer magazines (PIMAG), attending various clubs or support groups (PICLUB), and 

attending conventions or conferences (PISHOW).