The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between life change and dropout behavior of adult continuing education students. The population used for the study consisted of 100 freshmen adult evening students at Tidewater Community College, Virginia. The adult students were divided into groups of low, medium, and high academic achievement expectancy based on their high school grades. During the first class sessions data on recent life change events were collected through the Social Readjustment Rating Scale. At the end of the quarter (five months later), dropout data for the population was obtained. Six hypotheses were tested and the statistical analysis of the data gathered revealed the following conclusions: no significant difference existed in mean life change scores among the adult students at the low, medium, and high academic risk populations; there was a significant relationship between the amount of life change in adult students and the frequency of their dropout behavior; and there were no significant differences in the frequencies of dropout behavior of adult students in low, medium, and high academic risk categories. Dropouts, regardless of academic risk category, had experienced significantly more life change than non-dropouts. The rating scale and a bibliography are appended. (Author/EC)