About the Bureau

Who should consider New Hampshire Adult Education?

• Adults who need help learning English to help them in their daily lives or to get a better job.
• Adults looking to improve math skills for a job or build digital literacy skills to prepare for future learning and the high school equivalency test (HiSET).
• Adults looking to earn their diploma or high school equivalency for a promotion, a job change, entry into college or the military.
• Opportunities for adults to learn basic technology skills or pre-requisites for specific training programs.

Facts About Adult Education

Many adults need better basic skills for success at home and work

The national Adult Literacy Survey studied literacy levels of Americans on real-life tasks like addressing an envelope and reading a street map. The Survey placed people on one of five literacy levels.

• New Hampshire adults scored better than the national average, but more than 295,000 people scored at the lowest literacy levels (level 1 and 2). 
• 12% of New Hampshire adults scored at literacy level 1, needing a lot of improvement.
• 25% of New Hampshire adults scored at literacy level 2, needing some improvement.

Many adults lack a high school diploma

• In the U.S., 34 million people 18 and older (16 percent of the population) have not graduated from high school.
• New Hampshire has one of the highest percentages of high school graduates in the nation (only 7.4% non-graduates) but there are still 69,300 adults (over the age of 25) without high school credentials.
• In New Hampshire, high school graduates earn an average $10,000 more than those without a high school diploma or equivalency. 

Many adults want to learn English

• English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESL) is the fastest growing adult education in the country.
• ESL students make up 59% of New Hampshire adult education students.