This paper reviews research on participants and persistence in distance education. The purpose of the paper is to relate selected research findings (contained in published journals or ERIC documents) on participants and persistence to a theoretical framework based on the literature of adult education and distance education. The findings are divided into three categories: descriptive research on distance education participants’ characteristics; comparisons of distance students and conventional students; and studies of student characteristics as they relate to persistence in distance education courses and programs. Selected findings in the latter category are further related to other theories of distance educatio