Leaders of the United States Department of Defense (DOD) have received criticism from Congress and the press regarding perceived mismanagement of defense contracts. In 1986, the President's Blue Ribbon Commission on Defense Management attributed many deficiencies in the defense acquisition process to the fact that the defense contract management workforce was undertrained and lacking in basic skills. In March 1988, government personnel managers sought to increase the skill level in the career field by revising the requirements for entry into the contract management career field by adding the requirement that potential entrants have a bachelors degree in business administration. This change in entry level requirements could have an effect on Professional Continuing Education (PCE) courses in defense contract management. Among the many challenges faced by adult educators at DOD schools which offer PCE courses in contract management is the challenge of developing curricula for a changing student population. Adult learners in PCE courses in defense contract management will be a mixture of business degreed and non-business degreed DOD employees. If participants in DOD contract management PCE courses have an educational background which facilitates learning the specific skills of contract management, one would expect them to have a high degree of success in PCE courses, as measured by course grades. In this study, the researcher sought to answer the question, "How well does a degree in business (undergraduate or graduate) predict the grade an adult learner receives in PCE courses in defense contract management?" Data were gathered from 528 adult learners in two PCE courses in defense contract management at the Air Force Institute of Technology from February through June 1989. Data analysis included univariate, bivariate, and multivariate procedures. Statistically significant differences in course grades were shown to exist between learners with college degrees and those without college degrees. Statistically significant differences did not exist between learners with business degrees and those with non-business degrees. Two variables, highest level of education and age, were shown to have predictive value with regard to grades in PCE courses in defense contract management.