Premises and Programs for a Learning Society. ERIC/Higher Education Research Report No. 8.

Overview & Synopsis

Lifelong learning in the United States and recurrent education in Europe are new models of education that permit those beyond post compulsory education to have access to higher education throughout their lifetimes. The rationale behind these models is based on the idea of a "learning society" that accommodates changing social and personal goals and promotes social equity. There appears to be a sharply increasing interest in further education on the part of adult Americans and a clear movement by American colleges and universities toward expanding the lifelong learning concept. Our decentralized educational structure is likely to temper some of the widespread changes advocated by proponents of lifelong and recurrent learning, but such programs will receive increased funding from federal and state sources. (Author)