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Adults Buying into Continued Learning

By Sarah Clark More than 92 million adults participated in adult education in 2001, according to the U.S. Department of Education. What is more, the number of adults going back to school has increased by six percent from 1995 to 2001. Why are more adults returning to the classroom? One big reason more adults are going back to school is to adjust to shifts in the labor market. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the manufacturing sector has been declining sharply in recent years. Average annual employment in manufacturing dropped from 17 million in 2000 to slightly over 14 million in 2004. Meanwhile, employment in service-based sectors, such as leisure and hospitality, education, and health services, have grown at high rates since 1995.
Education is Key to Earning Higher Wages

Adult education can also provide a means to increase a worker's earning potential. Those with high school diplomas or GEDs earned about 25 percent more than high school dropouts in 2002. Additionally, median weekly earnings of men with bachelor's degrees were about $1,100 while those with just associate's degrees earned less than $800 during the same period. Likewise, women with college degrees earned about a third more than women with only high school diplomas. People are also changing jobs more than in previous years. According to the Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Americans change jobs an average of 10 times during their working life. While the number of career changes people make is difficult to measure, the rise in the number of adults going back to school may be an indicator of increasing numbers of career changes.
Going Back to School is Easier

Education is also becoming more accessible and convenient to adult students. More and more colleges and universities are offering classes and professional seminars on nights and weekends to accommodate adult students who work. Increasing numbers of universities are offering popular courses online. The Internet has brought the classroom into the home, providing the opportunity for working people with families to obtain new skills and credentials without having to commute to a college campus. In short, it appears that millions of adult Americans may be going back to school to learn skills that are in greater demand and which may also lead to greater job security and a more rewarding career.
Sources: U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics, Industry at a Glance - http://www.bls.gov/iag/iaghome.htm Bureau of Labor Statistics, Wages by Educational Attainment and Sex - http://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2003/oct/wk3/art04.htm National Center for Education Statistics, Adult Education 2000-01 - http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2004050 About the Author Sarah Clark is a freelance writer specializing in career development and postsecondary education.

So do you think that following an English course can be done online or does it have to be in a classroom ?

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Vocabulary thesaurus and definition sourced from www.thesaurus.com

BUY INTO Main Entry: Agree / Definition: Synonyms: be in unison, assent with another, adhere accede, acknowledge, acquiesce, admit, allow, be of the same mind, bury the hatchet, buy into, check, clinch the deal, come to terms, comply, concede, concur, consent, cut a deal, engage, give blessing, give carte blanche, give green light, give the go-ahead, go along with, grant, make a deal, okay, pass on, permit, play ball, recognize, see eye to eye, set, settle, shake on, side with, sign*, subscribe, take one up on, yes* contend, contradict, decline, disagree, dispute, dissent, oppose, protest, refuse shift switch, fluctuation about-face, alteration, bend, change, changeover, conversion, deflection, deviation, displacement, double, fault, modification, move, passage, permutation, rearrangement, removal, shifting, substitution, tack, transfer, transference, transformation, transit, translocation, turn, variation, veering, yaw deactivation, maintenance, stagnation according to in accordance with as reported by, as stated in, conforming to, in agreement with, in consonance with, in keeping with, in line with, just as, pursuant to, to the degree that

Antonyms: SHIFTS Main Entry: Definition: Synonyms:

Part of Speech: noun

Antonyms: Main Entry: Definition: Synonyms: MEANS

ACCORDING TO Part of Speech: preposition

Part of Speech: noun Definition: Synonyms: way, method agency, agent, aid, apparatus, auspices, avenue, channel, course, dodge*, equipment, expedient, factor, fashion, gimmick, instrument, instrumentality, instrumentation, intermediary, machinery, manner, measure, mechanism, medium, ministry, mode, modus operandi, organ, organization, paraphernalia, path, power, process, road, route, step, stepping-stone, system, tactic, technique, trick, vehicle, ways and means

DROPOUT Part of Speech: noun Definition: Synonyms: WHILE Part of Speech: conjunction Definition: Synonyms: LIKEWISE Part of Speech: adverb Definition: Synonyms: also, similarly additionally, along, as well, besides, correspondingly, further, furthermore, in addition, in like manner, in the same way, more, moreover, so, too, withal even though albeit, although, howbeit, much as, though, when, whereas failing student failure, hippie, nonconformist, quitter, truant

Article Sourced from http://www.worldwidelearn.com/education-articles/going-back-to-school.html Antonyms: CONVENIENT Part of Speech: adjective Definition: Synonyms: appropriate, useful acceptable, accommodating, adaptable, adapted, advantageous, agreeable, aiding, assisting, available, beneficial, comfortable, commodious, conducive, contributive, decent, favorable, fit, fitted, good, handy, helpful, in public interest, opportune, proper, ready, roomy, seasonable, serviceable, suitable, suited, time-saving, timely, user-friendly, well-planned awkward, inappropriate, inconvenient, ineffectual, inopportune, unadaptable, unhandy, unsuited, unuseful contrariwise, opposing, opposite, reverse

Antonyms: OBTAIN

Part of Speech: verb Definition: Synonyms: get, acquire access, accomplish, achieve, annex, attain, beg borrow or steal, capture, chalk up, collect, come by, compass, cop, corral, drum up, earn, effect, fetch, gain, gather, get at, get hold of, get one's hands on, glean, gobble up, grab, have, hoard, inherit, invade, lay up, make use of, nab, occupy, pick up, pocket, procure, purchase, reach, realize, reap, receive, recover, retrieve, salvage, save, score, scrape together, scrape up, secure, seize, snag, take, wangle, win obtain means to come into possession of; attain means to gain with effort forfeit, forsake, lose, sacrifice

Notes: Antonyms: CREDENTIALS

Part of Speech: noun Definition: Synonyms: references, attestation accreditation, authorization, card, certificate, character, deed, diploma, docket, document, documentation, endorsement, letter of credence, letter of introduction, license, missive, papers, passport, proof, recommendation, sanction, testament, testimonial, title, token, voucher, warrant