Adult Education Crucial to ND Workforce

BISMARCK, N.D., Sept. 15, 2025 – State School Superintendent Kirsten Baesler on Monday praised the work of adult educators, saying they play a crucial role in bettering the lives of North Dakotans who are striving to get general equivalency high school diplomas. 

Gov. Kelly Armstrong has declared Sept. 15-19 as Adult Education and Family Literacy Week. The North Dakota Association for Lifelong Learning, which is an association of adult learning centers, is having its annual conference this week in Bismarck. 

Adult education refers to instructional programs that help individuals who lack a high school diploma to earn a GED, or general educational development, credential. It shows they have the academic knowledge and skills of a high school graduate and is accepted by colleges and employers across the country. 

Adult learning centers help participants set career goals and prepare them for the workforce. They offer GED preparation and testing, and instruction on reading and writing, science, social studies and math. They provide EL, or English language, instruction for individuals who have difficulty speaking or writing English. Many EL students are not native English speakers. 

North Dakota has a network of 12 adult learning centers in Belcourt, Bismarck, Devils Lake, Dickinson, Fargo, Grand Forks, Jamestown, Minot, Valley City, Wahpeton, Watford City, and Williston. The instruction they offer is free, and participants who take the GED exams are eligible to have their expenses covered. The four exams cost $36 each. North Dakota’s correctional system also has adult education services. Residents who do not have a high school diploma are required to work toward a GED while they are incarcerated. 

Sara Mitzel, state director of adult education for the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction, said the centers served 3,590 students across North Dakota during the budget year that ended June 30. A person who completes a GED exam raises his or her annual wages by $9,000 to $10,000 on average each year, she said. 

The pass rate for GED exam takers was 84 percent last year, which ranked North Dakota among the top five states for GED performance for the fifth straight year, Mitzel said.

“Our adult education system helps North Dakotans get family-sustaining jobs,” Mitzel said. “We help to advance our learners and get them into the workforce.” 

The focus of the NDALL conference is professional development training for adult learning center leaders, educators and staff, including how artificial intelligence can support adult education work and advice for helping struggling learners.