Adult Education: Are You Getting What You Pay For?

But Sasha Greif didn't quite see it that way. Hoping to land a career in journalism, she plunked down $580 for a writing course through New York University's continuing-education program after seeing ads that promised taking a few classes might help her "gain the credentials to break into a new profession." Her goal was to trade a job stocking shelves in a bookstore for a shot at being the next Joan Didion. But she says she arrived to find lengthy in-class reading sessions that took up valuable teaching time, no take-home writing assignments and no finals or tests. Most of the actual class time, she says, was spent reading stories or pitching ideas. In response, the teacher, a working tabloid columnist, says he was trying to keep the class "practical" and used class time to help get the students' stories published. But it wasn't all work: His 25-year-old daughter subbed in for the last class, taking the group to an open-mike night at a local pub.

What does Greif, now working at an education-consulting firm, have to say about the experience? "I was really frustrated," she says.

Across the country, Americans are pursuing an ambitious new pastime: hitting the books. Whether to get a jump on a promotion, learn the latest cutting-edge technology or make a wholesale career change, members of the working world are dipping back into academia in record numbers. Indeed, while workers have been taking extension classes for decades, this corner of continuing education has ballooned in the past few years. And we're not talking art history classes for retirees — think practical subjects like finance and marketing. In fact, many schools are creating specialized programs around these courses, everything from the University of Virginia's $2,900 certificate in public relations to the University of Texas's $4,500 program in "process management."

The appeal is pretty obvious. For students, it means getting a chance to revamp their lives, especially in an age when workers jump around so much and when technologies in some fields change so often. And that's how the programs are often marketed, with schools promising to help land dream jobs or sought-after promotions. But the biggest beneficiaries may be the schools themselves, which are discovering that continuing-ed programs represent a small but fast-growing revenue source. Consulting firm Learning Resources Network estimates continuing-education programs will generate $8 billion in tuition by 2011, double that of 2003. Even the Ivies are in on the boom: At Harvard, tuition from continuing-ed programs generated $170 million last year, up 10% from 2005 — or double the growth rate of its graduate program.

But what are the students, who range from recent grads to boomers, getting for their money? Schools say the programs are receiving few complaints and that a $500 extension course on marketing isn't going to be of the same caliber as an accredited university course. But for the past four months, SmartMoney has been hitting the books, attending classes and talking to adult-ed students — and getting a different report card. Some students come away satisfied, describing classes with rigorous exams and hard-working teachers. But many are frustrated by a lack of standards for the courses or for training for the instructors. Many classes, they say, have little oversight from department heads and lack the heft they expected, a problem particularly disappointing for anyone enrolled at a big-name university. (Robert Lapiner, the dean of NYU's School of Continuing and Professional Studies, says the program works hard to maintain standards and that Greif's instructor should have been more up front about the course's structure.) And then there's the question of whether these courses carry any weight in the real world — a topic still hotly debated by recruiting experts and human-resources officials.