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This dissertation discusses teaching English to the adult (24 years old or older) undergraduate. The purposes of the paper were to make a statement on teaching the adult; to survey adults for their perceptions of their needs and the ways the courses met them; to review findings of schools offering special adult degree programs; and to develop a typology, with teaching implications, of the adult undergraduate in English. Chapter one states the problem, purposes, significance, and limitations of the study. Chapter two develops the historical background, chapter three covers the survey and its implications, and chapter four presents teachers' views of teaching English courses to adults. Chapter five summarizes the study and provides a conceptual structure for teaching the adult undergraduate in such courses. The dissertation concludes that teaching English for the adult undergraduate is a constantly shifting orientation of teacher and student. Relevance and rigor, modified by a knowledge of adult learning problems, must form the base of instruction. (TS)