Nontraditional education has the following characteristics: In nontraditional education emphasis is on the student as learner, on his achievement, and on the provision of materials and processes to expedite or promote that achievement. Less emphasis is on where, and how learning occurs. The shift to an emphasis on the learner also means that the learner decides how far to pursue the chain of validation, evaluation, credentialling, and rewarding. Represented by the concept of postsecondary education, social and educational ideas have been broadened so that the notion that education can occur over a lifetime is accepted. But legislation and administrative machinery now put money and a regulatory force behind the idea that students should choose from a broad range of educational institutions and that those institutions ought to be considered in planning and legislation. A number of currently operational or planned nontraditional education enterprises that utilize the approaches characteristic of nontraditional education include: (1) the New York Regents Degree program; (2) the State University of Nebraska SUN program; (3) nontraditional educational activities for the postsecondary clientele that are underway in public libraries of the nation; (4) educational efforts conducted by businesses and industries to train and educate their employees or customer's employees; and (5) proprietary schools. A 14-item bibliography is included. (Author/PG)