THE COMPETING INTERESTS OF INFORMAL ADULT EDUCATION AND THOSE OF FORMAL SCHOOLING HAVE INFLUENCED THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL TELEVISION NETWORK (N.E.T.), AS HAS ALSO THE STRUGGLE OVER THE PROPER ROLE OF N.E.T. IN THE TOTAL EDUCATIONAL TV FIELD -- WHETHER IT WAS TO BE A NATIONAL PROGRAM LIBRARY FOR LOCAL STATIONS, A REGULAR PROGRAM SERVICE, OR A FULL RANGE OF SERVICES SIMILAR TO THOSE OFFERED BY COMMERCIAL TV NETWORKS. THE STRUGGLE SAW N.E.T. MOVE FROM PRIMARILY AN ADULT EDUCATION ORGANIZATION TO AN EDUCATIONAL TV NETWORK SERVING THE TOTAL NEEDS OF THE INDUSTRY, ALL THE TIME SUPPORTED BY FORD FOUNDATION FUNDS. THEN, IN 1964, N.E.T. BECAME ONCE MORE PRIMARILY AN ADULT EDUCATION ORGANIZATION. THE FORD FOUNDATION HAS BEEN THE SINGLE MOST POWERFUL FORCE SHAPING THE DEVELOPMENT OF U.S. EDUCATIONAL TV IN GENERAL AND N.E.T. IN PARTICULAR UP TO THE PRESENT TIME. (DOCUMENT INCLUDES 110 NOTES AND REFERENCES.) THIS ARTICLE APPEARED IN "ADULT EDUCATION," VOLUME 17, NUMBER 3, SPRING 1967, QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF THE ADULT EDUCATION ASSOCIATION OF THE U.S.A., 1225 19TH ST., N.W., WASHINGTON, D.C. 20001. (SM)