seminar in the fall of 1959. With University support, Cless teamed with Virginia L. Senders of its Psychology Department to create the "Minnesota Plan for the Continuing Education of Women," which won a three-year, $110,000 Carnegie Corporation of New York grant. This was the first of three Carnegie grants to experimental programs of continuing education for women across the United States. It launched in 1960 with Cless and Senders as co-directors and the program's purpose the full, productive use of educated women. Over 300 women enrolled during its first year; by 1965, when Cless left, over 2500 women were enrolled, and she was a consultant to nearly 100 women's continuing education programs in the United States and Canada. The Claremont Colleges In 1965, the Claremont Colleges in Southern California proposed a similar program to the Carnegie Corporation for funding, but open to mid-career-changing men as well as women, and doing research "in the area of non-traditional study and the non-traditional student." It would build on what had been learned from the Minnesota Plan and similar programs, but would go beyond them. Soon a job offer reached Cless and the family moved to Claremont. The Claremont Colleges' Center for Continuing Education (CCE) opened its doors in 1966 with Cless as its Director. CCE focused on people who wanted to acquire an interrupted or postponed degree in an existing college setting. It served a wide variety of students. Educational counseling and planning were key aspects of its program. One-on-one counselors helped students define and navigate choices and worked to accommodate their flexible and part-time attendance needs. Courses were made available at many educational institutions in addition to those in the Claremont cluster. Cless introduced two interdisciplinary liberal arts seminars at CCE in 1967 and a third seminar in 1968. In 1972, Cless was elected president of the National Coalition for Research on Women's Education and Development. She continued as the Director of CCE until June 30, 1975. UCLA In 1979 Cless performed a feasibility study and wrote a proposal for a learning-in-retirement program at UCLA Extension, spending her weekdays at UCLA and returning to Claremont only at weekends. She became the Director of the new program from 1980 into 1983, after which The PLATO Society continued as a self-directed, self-governing lifelong learning institute . Honors In June 1970, the Radcliffe College Alumnae Association gave Cless its highest honor, the Alumnae Recognition Award.