PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH PROVIDING EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS FOR ADULT OFFENDERS HAVE UNDERGONE CONSIDERABLE REVIEW. INCREASING ATTENTION HAS BEEN GIVEN TO THE NEED TO FOCUS ON THE NATURE, SCOPE, AND EFFECTIVENESS OF EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS AVAILABLE TO INMATES. THIS INTEREST IS DUE, AT LEAST IN PART, TO THE GENERAL RECOGNITION THAT THE CORRECTIONAL SYSTEM IS COSTLY IN BOTH HUMAN AND ECONOMIC TERMS. AN ADDITIONAL FACTOR IS THE GROWING AWARENESS THAT THE LACK OF EDUCATIONAL AND JOB SKILLS IS UNUSUALLY HIGH AMONG INMATE POPULATIONS. A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE DEALING WITH CORRECTIONAL EDUCATION INDICATES THAT THERE ARE FIVE CONFLICTING ISSUES WHICH AFFECT THE PLANNING AND ONGOING FUNCTIONING OF EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS FOR INMATES: FUNDING AND ADMINISTRATION OF PROGRAMS; THE NATURE OF THE CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION AND ITS IMPACT ON THE EDUCATIONAL PROCESS; PROGRAM DESIGN; LIMITED ACCESS OF MANY INSTITUTIONS TO RESOURCES AND MATERIALS; AND PROGRAM EVALUATION. TYPES OF EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS INCLUDED IN THE NATIONAL PROJECT WERE ADULT BASIC EDUCATION, SECONARY EDUCATION AND GENERAL EDUCATION DIPLOMA, POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION, VOCATIONAL EDUCATION, AND SOCIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS. FOLLOWING THE LITERATURE SEARCH AND THE IDENTIFICATION OF ISSUES, A RANDOM MAILING SAMPLE OF 200 INSTITUTIONS WAS DRAWN FROM A POPULATION OF 327 FEDERAL AND STATE PRISONS. QUESTIONNAIRES WERE RETURNED BY 163 INSTITUTIONS, APPROXIMATELY 80 PERCENT OF THE SAMPLE. TWENTY REPRESENTATIVE INSTITUTIONS WERE VISITED TO ASSESS THE VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY OF DATA COLLECTED IN THE QUESTIONNAIRES, TO INTENSIFY OR COMPLEMENT INFORMATION IN THE QUESTIONNAIRES, AND TO ASSESS ENVIRONMENAL AND EXOGENOUS FACTORS THAT MAY AFFECT CORRECTIONAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS. MOST INSTITUTIONS WERE LOCATED IN RURAL AREAS, AND GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION HAD A STRONG INFLUENCE ON PROGRAM STAFFING PATTERNS AND ON THE ACCESSIBILITY OF SOME RESOURCES NORMALLY CONSIDERED NECESSARY IN TRADITIONAL EDUCATION. THE AVERAGE LENGTH OF TIME SERVED IN PRISON WAS LESS THAN 3 YEARS. THE AVERAGE PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL INSTITUTIONAL BUDGETS DEVOTED TO EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS WAS 9 PERCENT, WITH THE AVERAGE TOTAL EXPENDITURE FOR EDUCATION PER INSTITUTION BEING $905 ANNUALLY FOR EACH STUDENT. SECURITY CONSTRAINTS AND THE NATURE OF INSTITUTIONS AFFECTED INMATE ENROLLMENT IN EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS. THE RATIO OF INMATES TO EDUCATIONAL COUNSELORS WAS ABOUT 400 TO 1, AND THE AVERAGE NUMBER OF DIAGNOSTICIANS AND OTHER EDUCATIONAL SPECIALISTS WAS LESS THAN 1.5 PER INSTITUTION. RECOMMENDATIONS TO IMPROVE CORRECTIONAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, BASED ON THE FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS OF THE PROJECT, ARE DETAILED. REFERENCES ARE INCLUDED. (DEP)