This investigation compared 711 adult evening school students with 397 adult education nonparticipants (next door neighbors of the students). The majority of nonparticipants had never been enrolled in any formal educational program since ending full time school attendance. Some significant differences were: (1) the participants were younger (a majority under 30), less satisfied with their present jobs, more strongly expected a promotion or change of occupation, and more strongly anticipated an increase in income; (2) compared to participants, a large majority of nonparticipants owned their own homes; (3) participants already had higher educational level than nonparticipating neighbors, but the two groups did not differ in degree of satisfaction with past formal education; (4) participant and nonparticipant males differed more than participant and nonparticipant females; (5) female participants outnumbered men at all age levels except 25-35; (6) participants spent more of their leisure time attending plays, lectures, concerts, athletic events, and other events outside the home; (7) they also showed (and anticipated) greater geographic and socioeconomic mobility. (Author/LY)