The 10^th anniversary of the Electronic Platform for Adult Learning in Europe (EPALE) is an occasion to reflect on EPALE’s ecosystem where educators, trainers, researchers, and policy makers collaborate, share resources, and stimulate innovation in adult learning. It is also an opportunity to examine adult learning beyond Europe and consider EPALE’s potential role in the broader global adult learning landscape.

To stimulate thinking about further contributions of EPALE, this blog discusses the implementation of adult learning in the United States (U.S.), specifically the services that are provided to adult basic skills learners, similar to learners involved in non-formal education in Europe. Similarities and differences between adult skills learners and services provided to those learners in the U.S. and Europe are described, as well as possible areas of enhancement and collaboration to strengthen adult learning services.     

Comparing Systems

The U.S. and Europe support the provision of education services to adults with basic skills below the post-secondary or tertiary level. These learners enroll in adult skills education to develop their literacy, numeracy, language, and digital skills, which can help them pursue a pathway to increase their personal, social, and economic well-being. Discussed are the ways in which the U.S. and Europe approach policy and support for adult basic skills, the key areas of overlapping priorities in services, and the characteristics of adult learners participating in adult skills education.  

Policy in the U.S. and Europe

In the U.S., the key federal legislation that authorizes and funds adult skills education is Title II, the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act, of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). The U.S. Department of Education administers the Title II program and funds states to provide subgrants to local programs to deliver adult skills education services that include adult basic education, adult secondary education, and English-as-a second language. States, in turn, have authorized funding to match the federal Title II funds. A distinctive feature of WIOA is the requirement that states collect and submit to the U.S. Department of Education annual data on the demographic and background characteristics of adult learners participating in adult skills education, as well as learners’ educational progress, secondary credential attainment, post-secondary enrollment and attainment, and employment outcomes. States submit their data through the National Reporting System.

The Title II legislation also provides guidance about the professional development that states should provide to ensure the competence of adult skills program staff, and the instructional and learner support services that local adult skills programs should offer to prepare learners to meet increasing societal demands. To signal the areas of competence that adults need to succeed in education, training, and employment, the U.S. Department of Education developed Career and College Readiness Standards for Adult Education, which specify the skills and knowledge adults require at different levels of competence through college readiness (U.S. Department of Education, 2013). 

Europe supports adult basic skills education through policy frameworks, funding programs, and initiatives that promote lifelong learning, address skill gaps, and promote inclusion. Illustrative efforts include the European Skills Agenda (2020), which has a goal of 60% of adults participating in learning annually by 2030; the Council Recommendation on Upskilling Pathways (2016), which provides learning opportunities for adults with low skills so they can achieve levels of literacy, numeracy, and digital competence; and the Digital Decade Strategy (2030), which promotes digital literacy to enable at least 80% of the adult population to possess basic digital skills (Toros, 2025). The recent development of frameworks, supported by Erasmus+, have focused on adult learners’ development of key skills. These are the creation of the Common European Numeracy Framework (CENF), which includes a provisional overview of the elements necessary to enhance the quality of numerate behavior (Hoogland et al., 2019), and the Life Skills for Europe Framework.

Europe’s specification of detailed frameworks to provide goals for adult learning and signal the types of competences adult learners should have to succeed in education, training, and employment represents a systematic and thorough developmental process. In contrast, adult educators in the U.S. have analyzed existing frameworks from within and outside of the U.S. to determine the subset of standards and competencies that appear to be optimal for guiding adult skills education services. 

Characteristics of Adult Skills Learners   

The collection of U.S. adult skills learner data through the National Reporting System is a key source of data on adult skills learners’ characteristics. In Europe, data collected through the adult education survey (AES), which is part of the European Union (EU) statistics on lifelong learning, provides an understanding of the characteristics of adult skills learners or adults engaged in non-formal learning activities. In the AES, people aged 18 to 69 years are interviewed about their participation in education activities (formal, non-formal, and informal learning) during the twelve months prior to the interview. The AES takes place every six years.

The results from the AES that was conducted during 2022 and 2023 and the National Reporting System data for program year 2022-2023 can provide a limited understanding of the demographic characteristics of the adult skills population of learners in the U.S. and the EU during the post-COVID period, because 86% of AES respondents aged 25-64 in 2022 were only engaged in non-formal learning activities. 

In both the U.S. and EU, women were more likely than men to participate in adult skills education or non-formal learning activities, but the difference between the two groups’ participation was greater in the U.S. In the EU, the participation rate was 47% for women and 46% for men. In the U.S., 58% of adult skills learners were women and 42% were men. 

In terms of age, in the EU, 47% of adults aged 25-64 participated in non-formal learning. However, in the U.S., 74% of adult skills learners were in that age group. A final statistic about the U.S. adult skills participants during 2022-2023 is the percentage of learners who were enrolled in English as a second-language instruction. Slightly more than half (56%) of U.S. participants were non-native speakers in language classes, which has gradually increased over time. 

These initial data suggest it would be useful to have further information about the characteristics of adult skills learners in the EU and U.S. to understand the types of programs that are best aligned with the different ages and life stages of adults who desire to develop their skills and abilities through adult skills education.      

Global Insights Regarding EPALE       

EPALE’s work as a venue for collaboration, sharing of resources, and dissemination of innovations in education and training, among other activities, is distinctive in its inclusion of adult skills, continuing education, vocational and technical education. In the U.S., there is not one platform that addresses this range of adult learners. Rather, the U.S. has separate platforms for distinct educational services. Having one platform like EPALE can facilitate communication across areas of adult education.

EPALE is also unique in serving as a resource and discussion forum concerning the use of policy frameworks to guide instruction and professional development, particularly concerning digital skills, life skills, numeracy, and transversal skills. As noted above, the use of frameworks and standards is a distinctive feature of adult learning in Europe and EPALE’s activities to support the use of frameworks could benefit adult learning entities beyond Europe. 

The explicit focus on lifelong learning in all aspects of adult learning and education in Europe is notable. 

EPALE’s platform where educators, trainers, researchers, and policymakers collaborate and share resources in adult learning provides a range of opportunities for generating ideas about how lifelong learning can be promoted through projects and initiatives concerning non-formal, adult skills, continuing education, and vocational and technical education. 

Looking Ahead

As EPALE continues to evolve, there are opportunities for greater engagement between educators and policymakers overseas with the EPALE community, including:

• Continue to serve as a resource and community exchange venue about research, practices, and policies concerning adult skills education, continuing education, and vocational and technical education. This information could be expanded to include ideas and practices from outside of Europe to enrich the services provided to adult learners across geographical and cultural boundaries.      

• Consider how to integrate planning for lifelong learning as part of adult skills education. Adult skills education can be a transition point for adults to plan their next engagement in learning and they could benefit from assistance in thinking about their next steps. 

• Develop or model processes for encouraging lifelong learning through one’s lifespan and steps that communities can take to support engagement in lifelong learning. Having a centralized place with information about lifelong learning opportunities, such as EPALE, could help this effort.  

About the author

Judith Alamprese, MA, a Principal Scientist at Abt Global (USA), has more than four decades of experience leading research, evaluation, technical assistance, and program development in adult learning and workforce development. Trained as a sociologist, she has focused on system and individual-level interventions that promote equity and access to enable adults and youth to achieve social and economic well-being. Her work has involved leading experimental studies of innovative practices in adult skills learning, post-secondary education, and workforce development services, as well as providing technical assistance at the federal, state, and local levels in designing state-systemic change initiatives to support scaling of promising practices such as career pathways. She served as Co-Principal Investigator of the Collaborative Research for Educating Adults with Technology Enhancements (CREATE) Adult Skills Network and is the Principal Investigator for the Affordable Programs of Study and Career Pathways Initiative. She has served on numerous federal advisory groups related to adult learning and education, including two adult literacy committees for the National Academies Board on Testing and Assessment. She was a member of the U.S. Delegation to the 6th International Conference on Adult Education, CONFINTEA VI and the 7th International Conference on Adult Education, CONFINTEA VII. She has presented at OECD, UNESCO, and other international conferences on adult learning and education.