Adult and Continuing Ed

Types of Degrees Adult and Continuing Ed Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many adult & continuing education graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Master’s Degree	656
Doctor’s Degree	128
Graduate Certificate	119

What Adult and Continuing Ed Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, adult and continuing ed majors were asked to rate what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important in their occupations. These answers were weighted on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the most important.

Knowledge Areas for Adult and Continuing Ed Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in adult and continuing ed should prepare you for careers in which you will need to be knowledgeable in the following areas:

• Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
• Clerical - Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.

Skills for Adult and Continuing Ed Majors

When studying adult and continuing ed, you’ll learn many skills that will help you be successful in a wide range of jobs - even those that do not require a degree in the field. The following is a list of some of the most common skills needed for careers associated with this major:

• Instructing - Teaching others how to do something.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Learning Strategies - Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.

Abilities for Adult and Continuing Ed Majors

As a adult and continuing ed major, you will find yourself needing the following abilities:

• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.

What Can You Do With a Adult and Continuing Ed Major?

People with a adult and continuing ed degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Self-Enrichment Education Teachers	16.2%	$38,720

Who Is Getting a Master’s Degree in Adult and Continuing Ed?

This major is dominated by women with about 70% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of adult and continuing ed majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	23
Black or African American	94
Hispanic or Latino	62
White	389
International Students	22
Other Races/Ethnicities	66

Geographic Diversity

Adult and Continuing Ed appeals to people across the globe. About 3.4% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Adult and Continuing Ed

Some careers associated with adult and continuing ed require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to adult and continuing ed have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	12.5%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	10.2%
Some College Courses	1.6%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	12.5%
Bachelor’s Degree	28.0%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	5.4%
Master’s Degree	27.8%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level.	0.9%
Post-Doctoral Training	0.4%

Online Adult and Continuing Ed Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	1	1
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	3	0
Bachelor’s Degree	38	16
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	61	23
Post-Master’s	9	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	19	4
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	1	1

Majors Related to Adult and Continuing Ed

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to adult and continuing ed.

Major	Number of Grads
Elementary Education	41,711
Early Childhood Education	30,639
Secondary Education	10,948
Teacher Education	9,411
Teacher Development & Methodology	6,323
Junior High/Intermediate/Middle School Education & Teaching	3,018
Kindergarten/Preschool Education & Teaching	2,718
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Educational Methods	379
Montessori Teacher Education	304
Online Educator/Online Teaching	153
College/Postsecondary/University Teaching	101
International Teaching and Learning	24
Waldorf/Steiner Teacher Education	1

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
• Image Credit: By Vgrigas under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.