Adult Education & Literacy

Adult Education & Literacy provides adults 17 and older accessible, quality instruction that develops life, work, and literacy skills. These skills provide the opportunity for higher learning, better pay and job potential, and a sense of accomplishment. Programs include Adult Basic Education (ABE), English as a Second Language (ESL), High School Equivalency Diploma (HSED), and online HSED.

Adult Education & Literacy programs in Iowa are funded at the federal level by Title II of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). In 2014, Iowa began allocating additional funding for Adult Education and Literacy activities. AEL works in cooperation with other core partner programs under WIOA, including Title I (Adult/Dislocated Worker/Youth), Title III (Wagner-Peyser—Workforce Development), and Title IV (Vocational Rehabilitation and Iowa Department for the Blind). In Region 2, these programs share a goal of preparing job seekers to meet the demands of a workforce that requires an increasingly higher level of skill of those who enter it.