The Mission of the Mountain Plains Adult Education Association (MPAEA) is to support and promote lifelong learning in the Mountain Plains Region (Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Utah, Wyoming, and beyond). In order to achieve its mission, the association:

• Promotes and provides professional development opportunities for adult educators.
• Publishes and distributes relevant information about lifelong learning.
• Supports and strengthens member associations within the states of the region. 

The Mountain Plains Adult Education Association serves members in a nine-state region. The original charter and founding policies were developed in 1945. The four original states were Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. In 1961, Arizona, Idaho and Nevada joined. Montana became the eighth state in 1988. North Dakota became the ninth state in 2014.

The Association has grown from the vision of a few hard-working pioneers to become a creative and effective force in the field of adult and continuing education.

The Association is one of the oldest regional adult education organizations in the United States. For more than a half century, MPAEA has been on the cutting edge of adult education as a state, regional and national imperative