ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on education for the older adult. Two factors suggest the significance of the older student as a potential client for providers of education. First, the proportion of older adults in the United States population continues to rise faster than other age groups. The second factor supporting the importance of the older adult as a clientele for adult education providers is the diminishing gap in the educational level between older and younger learners. The significance of the rise in educational level is its usefulness in predicting participation in educational opportunities. Significant relationships were found between females and interest in food services and nutrition; high school graduates and interest in merchandising and sales; and college graduates and interest in consumer and homemaking education. Motivation and subject matter preferences of the older student stands in contrast with the question of barriers to participation.
