THE FUTURE OF CONTINUING EDUCATION AT INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER LEARNING
Continuing education consists of educational programs, usually non-credit courses, offered by colleges and universities to adults in the community usually during the evening and on weekends (National Education Association 1). Merrian and Caffarella (1,72) report that continuing education should be considered an element of adult education which, the authors note, differs from that of the education of children in several ways, the most important of which is that continuing education offers learning that is based on existing accumulated knowledge and experience. It is further noted that continuing education in institutions of higher learning most frequently require that adults apply their knowledge in some practical fashion in order to learn effectively.
The purpose of this paper is to speculate on the future of continuing higher education. The paper first examines factors that are expected to affect future policies and programs in continuing higher education. This is followed by an exploration of trends arising from these factors and their extrapolation into the future.
Factors Affecting the Shape of Continuing Higher Education
The University of Continuing Education Association (1) reports that several factors are going to be placing pressure and demands on continuing higher education. The first of these factors is said to be an expansion of the fields and sub-fields offered by colleges and universities. According to the University of Continuing Education (1), these demands arise out of the fact that this is an era of information and technology, rapid change and increasing need, for new knowledge currency, advanced competencies and credentials, and more advanced degrees.
Still other factors that are said to influence the future of higher education are the increasing competitiveness of the market, the emergence of new providers (e.g., online sour...