"I love what I do, but I don't stay for the pay.": Perspectives from Over 600 Adult Educators
By Sarah Cacicio and David Nguyen
Adult education teachers share a sense of purpose, belonging, and joy in their ability to help adult learners achieve their goals. The Adult Literacy and Learning Impact Network (ALL IN), in partnership with a research intern from build4good via New America, conducted a survey of more than 600 adult education teachers in July-August 2025. We found that over 90% of participants experience high job satisfaction. While sentiments about the rewarding nature of the work were consistent across all respondents, survey results indicate that the perceptions of job quality was uneven. This was particularly true for early and mid-career teachers who aim to secure greater pay and stability in their work.
The new report, “I love what I do, but I don’t stay for the pay”: Perspectives from Over 600 Adult Educators, reveals that the adult education workforce is made up of highly qualified, committed, and motivated individuals. For many survey respondents, adult education is a secondary career either following retirement or serving as a part-time job to supplement their family income. But the field lacks the long-term infrastructure to grow and sustain a strong teaching workforce into the future.
In analyzing survey responses, three key takeaways emerged from the data.
- Adult educators enter the profession through different pathways, but stay because of a shared sense of joy, community, and purpose in the work.
- Flexibility is appreciated, but opportunities for job stability, career growth, and life-sustaining wages are scarce.
- Part-time or volunteer teachers report lower levels of comfort with using digital tools for instruction, regardless of age.
These takeaways build on previous findings from ALL IN’s 2024 landscape scan of the adult education workforce, which revealed that 81% of the federally funded adult education workforce was part-time or volunteer. Taken alongside ALL IN and FTI Consulting’s market research among employers and policy influencers as well as 2,000 adults with low literacy, we hope this report will highlight the experiences and perspectives of adult education teachers who remain a stabilizing force in our field. Results will be used to inform state leaders, program directors, policy influencers, and the broader adult literacy community to strengthen and support the adult education workforce.