There are more than 60 million U. S. adults who lack a high school diploma. Their employability is decreasing, due to the upswing in white collar occupations. Also, they are often barred from the skilled and unskilled labor market; on-the-job training is increasingly academic; General Educational Development (GED) examinations are rigorous and the material irrelevant for most adults; and GED is primarily a credentialing program. All these factors indicate a need for alternative approaches to adult diploma programs. A synopsis of the history of American adult education reveals its marginal place in the educational scene in terms of legal status, administration, facilities, and funding. Today's public school adult programs often have a vocational emphasis while adhering to secondary school practices and administrative patterns. Awareness of the inflexibility of GED programs led to broadening of diploma programs; yet data received in a survey of 45 states and over 50 local agencies showed little or no imagination in the adult programs of 29 of the 37 states offering them. Adult educators must respond to demands other than enrollment economy and develop a curriculum philosophy of their own, as California has done. (Fifty-three pages of appendixes give descriptions of programs in nine states). (MDW)