Recurrent education is designed for full-time students to gain knowledge outside their school study.

Recurrent education is instruction for men and women who no longer go to school full time. It is also called continuing education or adult education. Recurrent education includes classes, correspondence courses, discussion groups, lectures, reading programs, and other organized learning activities. It does not include such pastimes as reading or watching television, though they also may be educational. In the United States, about 50 million Americans—more than a fourth of the adult population—participate in some form of recurrent education.
    Men and women enroll in some form of recurrent education activities for a variety of reasons. Many take part to improve their job skills—to get new jobs or to advance in the ones that they already have. Some people want to learn such skills as pottery making or speed reading to use in their leisure time. Others participate simply for the joy of learning and may not plan to use the knowledge in any specific way. Many of these people study such subjects as art, literature, and philosophy. Still other adults attend classes to meet people and to make new friends. There are many motives for recurrent education.
    Recurrent education differs in several ways from the education of children. Most adults want to learn a skill they can use immediately. Children go to school to learn general skills they will use after they grow up. Also, adults have more experience and knowledge than children do, and the teaching in recurrent education is naturally more advanced. For example, a teacher might use more group discussions with a class of adults. Most children receive free schooling, but most adults pay for much or all of their instruction. As a result, adult education must provide programs that adults are interested in.
    There are four chief sources of recurrent education; public schools, colleges and universities, private schools, and the government. Many business companies, churches, libraries, museums, park systems, and other organizations also provide educational programs for adults.
    Two major testing programs enable adults to take examinations to earn credit for the equivalent of a high school or college education. These programs are the General Educational Development Test (or GED) and the more advanced College Level Examination Program (or CLEP). The GED is administered by the departments of education of all the 50 states and of several Canadian provinces. Adults who pass the test receive a high school equivalency certificate which is often considered the equivalent of a "high school diploma". The CLEP test enables adults to earn credits that can be applied toward a college degree.