Reconsidering Bibliographic Instruction for Adult Reentry Students: Emphasizing the Practical

A survey conducted by the College Board and reported in the Chronicle of Higher Education revealed that six million adults study for college credit each year, and that 45 percent of all undergraduate and graduate students are over twenty‐five years of age. The survey also predicted the figure could rise to 50 percent by the year 2000. Recent adult education literature offers many papers advising colleges to gear up and embrace the reentry student. Academe's metamorphosis, demonstrated by independent degree programs, more weekend and evening classes, and other enticements, confirms this reorientation. A community adult education course entitled “Academia Revisited,” which is intended specifically as a preenrollment introduction for prospective reentrants, is a signal that colleges are actively courting the adult student. Increasing enrollments of adults attest a positive response to these changes.