A study examined the experiences and perceptions of 27 female welfare recipients who were required to go back to school or lose their welfare benefits. The women were observed as they participated in a highly interactive career and life planning (C&LP) class that met 5.5 hours per day 4 days per week for 1 month. A random sample of the women was questioned informally in small-group and individual conversations, and formal open-ended individual interviews were administered to 15 of the women 5 to 6 months after the class. Quantitative data available from other databases, including the Pathways to Progress database and the Oregon National Adult Literacy Survey database, were also analyzed. The women studied had all been reluctant to participate in the C&LP class, and most would not have enrolled if not faced with cutoff of their welfare benefits. Formal education had not been a positive experience for the women; nevertheless, they identified reasons for wanting further education and training. The C&LP class helped most of the women begin ridding themselves of internalized feelings of inadequacy and begin preparing to make further changes. Welfare reform educational programs were deemed potentially promising alternative interventions to stimulate adult literacy development. (Contains 30 references.) (MN)