This paper provides adult educators with information they can use to produce perspectives for the future of adult education (AE). Part 1 provides a perspective on the past and present of AE that falls under the aegis of the Federal Adult Education Act of 1966 and subsequent amendments. It paints a picture of AE from the mid-1960s to the present and reveals trends in funding of and participation in AE by certain segments of the adult population. Part 2 looks at trends and activities that may exert an influence on AE in the early part of the next century: social trends such as population and demographic changes; economic trends such as globalization of the work force, nature of work, and demands for intellectual skills that have affected the delivery system for AE; technological changes such as communications and computer technologies that affect how adults seek information and education; and brain and cognitive sciences research that offers new insights about the potential for childhood and adult cognitive development over the life span and intergenerational transfer of language and other cognitive skills. Part 3 examines government and legislative trends that reflect the idea of "devolution" of responsibility from the federal to the state and local levels. Part 4 discusses planning issues involved in moving the present AE system from a marginal to a mainstream position in the educational system. It looks at new data resources and technologies for planning and program analysis. Six pages of notes and literature citations are appended. (YLB)