A chapter from the forthcoming book, "Practitioners' Guide to Education for Working Adults," describes a year-long study to explore the low utilization of tuition aid plans in three unionized companies. The research has shown that the use of tuition aid programs is in inverse ratio to need. Workers who tend to utilize tuition aid are those who have the most education and hold the best paid, highest skilled jobs with the greatest opportunity for advancement. Since women are clustered in low wage, low skill jobs they tend to be those who use this benefit least of all. The study showed, however, that working women no longer put personal development first as a reason for returning to school, her interest now is in acquiring job-related skills leading to promotion. Discouragement about the rewards of extra effort seems a prime reason why men and women do not use tuition aid benefits. Changes in the tuition aid programs, such as greater cost sharing, rearranging work schedules, and career counseling, are recommended. (Author/PHR)