After completing all course requirements and passing a comprehensive state examination, graduates of the various institutions were assigned to positions in the government or industry as dictated by their specialized work. Students who graduated with distinction were given preference in assignment to positions and in the selection of candidates for postgraduate study. Two higher degrees were available: the Candidate of Science, which required an additional three years of study, the passing of several examinations, and the successful defense of a thesis that made an original contribution to the student's field of specialization; and the Doctor of Science, which also required extensive study, the passing of oral and written examinations, and the successful defense of a thesis based on original and extensive research work in the student's selected field. Adult Education Adult education as a supplementary form of instruction was considered an integral part of the educational process. Initiated in the early 1950s, the program was intended to give the workers and peasants the opportunity to improve their level of education and skill and, at the same time, to provide the government with the means of intensifying the ideological and political indoctrination of the general population. A variety of schools was established throughout the country that offered evening and correspondence courses to volunteer enrollees, mostly between the ages of forty and sixty. The courses consisted of lectures given by volunteer instructors in the social, natural, and political sciences; although no degree or diploma was offered, those who successfully completed courses were eligible, after passing a state examination, for certificates as elementary or higher school graduates. In 1958 the program was revised and expanded. In that year people's and workers' "universities" were established under the guidance of labor unions, local committees on art and culture, and committees of the Union of Communist Youth. These universities were established at cultural centers, in libraries, in museums, and at collective farms and industrial enterprises. The enrollment age was lowered to twenty to attract youthful school dropouts, and a greater variety of basic general educational and technical courses was introduced. Despite these changes, in 1967 the press reported a general lack of public support for the program. Deficiencies in the system included a lack of adequate classrooms and equipment, the low quality of instruction, and the absence of a vigorous recruitment program.