Ana Mayorga's work on an assembly line spanned 19 years, two hand surgeries, the birth of four children and their growth into teenagers. It ended last May in a layoff.

The tightening job market pushed the 40-year-old Salt Lake woman to the schoolhouse — where classrooms are getting crowded.

The economic downturn is bringing an upturn in the number of adults coming back to school to earn high school diplomas. Many seek better footing as the competition for adequate-paying jobs steepens.

The State Office of Education doesn't yet have enrollment comparisons, state adult education services coordinator Marty Kelly said. But after three years of enrollment declines, this year, she's sure, will reverse the trend.

"Adult education follows the same cycle as the economy," Kelly said. "When the economy is good, students enrolling in adult education drop. When the economy turns south, then our numbers also go up."

Certainly Mayorga is one of the economic casualties. But her frustrations are a little more unique. She in fact did earn a diploma in her Guatemalan homeland. But she said employers here don't recognize it. And that's not her only frustration.

"I came legal to this country ... and for me, this is unfair," she said through tears at Horizonte Instruction and Training Center in Salt Lake City last week. "I feel like illegal people are not paying taxes, not doing the right things, but they have jobs."

Salt Lake City, Provo and Davis school districts report crowding hallways and classrooms in adult education settings, and Weber School District said earlier this month it was gearing up for additional students in general educational development and high school completion programs.

Provo School District is enrolling as many as 30 percent more adults seeking a GED or high school diploma, said student services director Greg Hudnall.

"Our enrollment is probably double the number of students signing up over the last year," said Scott Greenwell, director of adult and community education in Davis School District.

"Classes are crowded," said Ted Heal, technology coordinator at Horizonte. "Night classes are packed."

On the flip side, Davis community education coordinators say fewer adults are signing up for classes such as yoga, finance and art, Greenwell said.

Granite District officials expected a similar effect.

The school leaders said they have not surveyed their students to determine exactly why they came back to school. But though reasons vary, the prospect of increasing earning power is a big one.