THE EDUCATIONALLY DISADVANTAGED POPULATION (EDP), DEFINED AS THOSE PERSONS 18 YEARS OF AGE OR OVER WHO HAVE NOT COMPLETED EIGHT YEARS OF FORMAL SCHOOLING, CONTAINED AT LEAST 24 MILLION PEOPLE IN 1960. ALTERNATE PLANS HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED FOR A VOLUNTARY ADULT BASIC EDUCATION PROGRAM FOR THE EDP, USING A TIME SPAN OF 20 YEARS AND A METHOD FOR ENTERING EQUAL INCREMENTS OF THE EDP GROUPS. SINCE ABOUT 98 PERCENT OF THE PRESENT PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS ARE IN THE 18-64 AGE GROUP, THE PLAN DEVELOPED FOR THIS GROUP APPEARS TO BE A REALISTIC BASIS FOR PLANNING. IT PROVIDES FOR AN ORDERLY GROWTH IN PARTICIPANTS FROM ABOUT 0.9 MILLION TO A MAXIMUM OF 2.7 MILLION IN 1975. THE ANNUAL COST WOULD INCREASE FROM ABOUT $75 MILLION TO $235 MILLION AND THEN DECLINE TO ABOUT $55 MILLION IN THE TWENTIETH YEAR OF THE PLAN, HAVING REACHED ABOUT 13 MILLION PEOPLE. USING THE SINGLE CRITERION OF INCOME INCREASE, THE POTENTIAL ANNUAL BENEFITS OF THE PROGRAM ARE ABOUT FOUR TIMES THE ANNUAL COST. (THE DOCUMENT INCLUDES 15 CHARTS AND THREE TABLES WHICH SHOW THE 1960 EDP BY AGE GROUP AND SCHOOLING, AND BALANCED PROGRAM PLANS ANNUALLY TO 1987.) (AJ)