Continuing training is one of the tasks of the french universities since 1968. But most of them have weakly developed adult participation to higher education (HE). Can lifelong learning (LLL) policies driven by international bodies since the early 2000’s make the difference ? Changing access and contents of training in order to establish a continuity between initial and continuing education, do LLL policies offer opportunities to open universities to adult learners ? How are evolving the boundaries between initial education and continuing training in France compared with other countries ? By addressing this issue, our ambition is to understand if adult participation to HE is currently developing in France.