Commissioned by the former National Board of Schools, the authors have studied the effectiveness of participation in adult education centre study programmes. The aim was to clarify what the adult student’s goals were, their experiences with regard to how well their expectations were filled, and their estimate of the effectiveness and significance of studying there. Factor analysis was applied in the examination of the responses to each question in order to seek out the basic structure of the students’ experiences. The article is a presentation of the results of the study.Kirjoittajat ovat tutkineet entisen kouluhallituksen kokeilu- ja tutkimustoimiston toimeksiannosta osallistumista kansalais- ja työväenopistojen opiskeluun ja opiskelun vai...