Center for the Study of Liberal Education for Adults

The Center for the Study of Liberal Education for Adults (CSLEA) was established in 1951 with a grant from the Fund for Adult Education (FAE) that had been awarded on the basis of a proposal submitted by the Committee on Liberal Education of the Association of University Evening Colleges. Throughout its history the Center's primary source of financial support was the FAE. Established to work with universities seeking to initiate or to improve adult education programs, the Center's general purpose was to help American higher education develop greater effectiveness and a deeper sense of responsibility for the liberal education of adults. The Center fulfilled this purpose of working with university adult education administration through Center projects, consultation services of the Center staff, four publication series (Notes and Essays, Reports, Research Reports, and Occasional Papers), a semi-monthly newsletter, Continuing Education for Adults, which contained information gathered from the field, and services of the Center clearinghouse on adult education information.

The Center produced experimental study-discussion guides for adult use in evening colleges and later shifted focus by studying the quality of administrative leadership, faculty performance, and status of continuing education in colleges and universities. Increasingly the Center's activities concerned national leadership conferences, the development of special degree programs specifically for adults, and seminars for faculty, deans, and presidents. Its research resulted in an extensive and influential list of publications. The Center also made numerous small "seed" grants to try out experimental ideas. In 1956, upon formal invitation, the Center's services were extended to the institutions of the National University Extension Association. In 1958 it began to work with a special committee of black colleges and universities and in 1959 with a newly formed Committee on Liberal Education of the Association of American Colleges. Thus the Center's work of liberally oriented higher education for adults had spread across the spectrum of higher education. CSLEA was also influential in the development of international adult education, providing the International Congress of University Adult Education with a secretariat during its formative years.

James B. Whipple points out in his history of the Center that the distinguishing characteristics of the Center included its quasi-independence. The Center was established on the campus of the University of Chicago, but remained independent of that institution. From 1964 until its termination in 1968, the Center was affiliated with Boston University but retained its independence. There were three directors of the Center:

John Simeon Diekhoff, 1952-1953 John B. Schwertman, 1953-1956 Alexander Albert Liveright, 1956-1968