The issue of adult and continuing education in New Jersey has been examined as part of a Federal project (Project Next Step: Mutuality of Planning). National role, trends, and problems of adult and continuing education are summarized briefly in the first section while the next section includes a summary of the adult education programs in New Jersey. The planning team selected various potential target groups (functional illiterates, high school dropouts, immigrants and non-English speaking persons, adults 55 years old and older, unemployed, low income, migrant laborers, public offenders, handicapped, and the general adult population) and assessed the target groups according to definition, needs, current programs and expenditures, cost/impact, future trends, and political considerations. Charts of related data have been included following each target group. Approximately one-third of the report is devoted to an appendix (two papers that further examine definitions of adult education, various models being used in European countries, and future trends; a list of organizations with an interest in adult and continuing education, and a selected bibliography of literature). (EA)