Should unique adult higher education programs be preserved and even championed, or should such programs succumb to the pressures of the day and get folded into more conventional higher education? This essay argues that, in addressing such vital questions, we need to become more aware of the relationship between human development and college study, specifically, whether new research in and theories of adult development suggest that college experiences designed particularly for adults can provoke more mature thinking in older students. [For the complete proceedings, see ED590245.]