All young persons in Sweden have to complete 9 years of basic compulsory schooling. More than 95 percent opt for an additional 2 or 3 years of upper secondary school, after which they have free access to further education. The system of adult education is designed to bridge the gaps between generations and to provide opportunities for recurrent, lifelong education. The traditionally strong position of adult education is partly tied to the large number of providers. Formal adult education comprises basic education operated by authorities through government grants and municipal adult education. Popular adult educational activities are studies at folk high schools or under the aegis of adult educational associations. Labor market training takes the form of specially organized vocational training or uses the regular educational system. Personnel education and inservice training are educational activities aimed at employees and organized on the employers' terms and at their expense in companies and national or local authorities. The government has tried to establish the necessary preconditions for adult educational activities, including adult education in all municipalities, educational financing, educational leave, studies as part of the renewal of working life, and adult education as an expression of general welfare policy

Swedish adult education can be divided into three major periods. The concept of self-education symbolizes the first period. Study circles and folk high schools provided alternative learning options for adults. The second period can be characterized by a diversified system of publicly organized adult education. Special attention was given to broadening the options for adults with short prior educaiton to study during working hours. In the third period policy decisions were taken to open up for a more flexible organization of adult education. Parliament decided to create so-called renewal funds and 6 billion kronor were used for corporate learning strategies during five years starting from 1986. The next decade will be a crossroads for swedish adult education. To-day the main proposal is to change the legal status of the employment training board from a public agency to a free enterprise in the competence market.

Cooperative education, experiential learning, and personal knowledge are addressed in nine conference papers. Kenneth Abrahamsson considers the nature of experiential learning, the recognition of prior learning, educational design and the assessment of quality, and policy and practice for integrating learning and experience. Harry Hienemann considers the history of cooperative education, the evaluation of outcomes integrating classroom and work experience, and mandatory cooperative education at Laguardia Community College, New York. What is known about the educational effects and economic consequences of programs that recognize prior learning is reviewed by Alan P. Wagner. Solomon Arbeiter examines a model that can be used to evaluate students in programs recognizing prior learning, as well as the award of credit or advanced standing. Douglas M. Windham evaluates the economic effects of recognizing prior learning and considers the implications for institutional policy. The nature and value of relevant work experience in the education of primary school teachers is considered by Hannu Perha, followed by Staffan Larsson's review of five qualitatively different conceptions of experience as viewed by teachers. Maureen L. Pope suggests that a cultural transmission approach to teaching and knowledge dominates science education and that this has neglected the role of personal experience in the construction of knowledge. Erich Leitner examines the implications of cooperation between the University of Klagenfurt, Austria, and the Austrian Workers Union. Implications for the university pertain to the philosophy of higher education and innovations

It is necessary to develop some comparative indicators in order to describe and compare the systems of education in countries other than one's own. Access to higher education is an important indicator. Currently, 50 percent of the Swedish adult population takes part in some organized learning activity every year and 50 percent of the student population in higher education is composed of adults 25 years old or older. Two principal channels through which adults prepare for higher education are the residential college for adults called the Swedish Folk High School and, most important, the system of municipal adult education called Kumvux. About 13 percent of the Kumvux students begin studies at levels of higher education. The National Board of Education provides an orientation course for adult students and a national education admission test, which gives potential adult students a chance to take university courses. Compulsory school ends at age 16, but more than 90 percent of students continue to the upper secondary level and two-thirds of them take vocational programs for 2 years. A few programs aim at increasing access to higher education for "earmarked" groups of adult students, such as trade union members, women, technicians, and disabled students. Sweden faces a strategic decision about whether to renew the system of higher education as it is or concentrate on developing recruitment strategies for neglected or underrepresented learners.