Opening and closing doors for adult learners in a South African university

South African universities have responded in a variety of ways to national policy directives to broaden access to mature adult learners. In this paper we examine the progress made by one institution—the University of the Witwatersrand—to open its doors to adult learners through the Centre for Part-Time Study, known as Wits Plus. We examine critically the government policies, institutional context, concept of adult learners and programmatic achievements which have shaped Wits Plus. We show that the approach to adult learners adapted by policy makers in government and in the University is at best ambivalent, and at worst self-defeating; hence the metaphor of opening and closing doors to adult learners.