Adult education and family literacy

What this actually is

Federal grant money flows through OCTAE’s Division of Adult Education and Literacy to state and local programmes so adults can "acquire the basic skills necessary to function in today’s society" — completing secondary education, family literacy, working toward citizenship, and preparing for job training. In practice this is the free adult basic education, high school equivalency preparation and English class at a community college or public library near you. These classes are the unglamorous prerequisite for almost everything else in this list: a training programme or an apprenticeship that requires a diploma becomes reachable once this is done, and it costs nothing.

Who qualifies, and what trips people up

Adults seeking to complete secondary school, improve family literacy, attain citizenship, or enter job training or retraining. Delivered locally, so enrolment, testing and schedules are set by the local provider. Start with your community college’s adult education department or your state’s adult education office rather than with the federal page.