Typically, non-credit or credit-granting adult higher-education programs are primarily staffed by non-tenured and part-time adjunct faculty. Not surprisingly, these are the faculty members with the least power to affect or influence change regarding an institution's approach to serving the adult learner population. But full-time tenured and tenure-track faculty, who are held in higher regard by the institutional hierarchy, are often not sensitive to the challenges and needs of nontraditional-aged students. However, despite the marginalized treatment that adult learning programs often receive in colleges and universities, their enrollment numbers have increased significantly. The 2002 National Center for Education Statistics report estimated that more than 47 percent of enrollees in U.S. higher education institutions could be classified as adult learners. According to the report, adult learners are often part-time students; are financially independent of their parents; are employed full time; and have dependants of their own. Currently, most institutions and their faculty are ill equipped to address the diverse needs of their adult students. Adult learners have unique needs and experiences that influence and shape their interactions with their respective institutions. To better serve the adult learner population, faculty and administrators must: Respect the diversity of age, gender, race and social class represented by adult students; appreciate that academic, professional and personal goals greatly influence continuing education for most adult learners; implement practices that respect the years of experience that adult learners bring to class; assure that rigorous adult degree programs are accessible, flexible and practical; and ensure that serving the adult learner population is included in the overall mission of the university.