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As a rule, the GED process does not change people, it just identifies people with particular characteristics and certifies them as having those characteristics. Specifically, it identifies and certifies high school dropouts whose basic cognitive skills--the ability to read, write, think, and do math--are better than those of other dropouts and about equal to those of high school graduates, on average.
Like most other tests, the GED does not measure noncognitive characteristics that are related to performance in postsecondary education, the civilian labor market, and the military. The GED recipients typically have more schooling than other dropouts and (of course) less than high school graduates. They also tend to come from families with more socioeconomic status than those of dropouts but less than those of high school graduates. Characteristics such as these explain a substantial part of the differences in the performance of GEDs, dropouts, and high school graduates.
There are exceptions to the statement that the GED process does not change people. First, GED examinees typically invest about 30 hours, and a little money, in preparing for and taking the tests. This investment is very modest and, in itself, is unlikely to produce measurable gains in education and employment. However, about one-fourth of GED examinees in 1989 reported spending more than 100 hours preparing for the exam, a big increase over the percentage doing so in 1980. Second, by providing an initial step toward self-improvement, the GED builds self-confidence. The self-esteem of GED candidates increases as a result of passing the tests.
Thirty hours of preparation, or even 100 hours, is much less than the estimated 410 hours of instruction in core subjects that students receive in a typical high school year. In 1995, GED test takers had completed a mean 9.9 years of school. With 2.1 additional years of schooling, high school graduates had 861 more hours of core curriculum than GED examinees, on average.
For high school dropouts who attain the GED, the certification does provide reliable information about an individual's cognitive skills to postsecondary institutions, employers, the military, the federal government, and others who might be asked to make a selection decision about that person. Evidence from the National Adult Literacy Survey shows that GED recipients are equal to high school graduates in everyday thinking skills.
By signalling cognitive competencies to decision makers who usually know little about the individual in question, the GED can help open the door to opportunity. Once through the door, however, the individual has to use the cognitive skills and other personal resources not measured by the tests in order to succeed.
GED certification can help open the door to postsecondary education. Most colleges accept the credential, and multivariate studies show that GED recipients are more likely than comparable dropouts, though less likely than high school graduates, to attend. Under federal student financial aid policies, GED certification can also help recipients get financial assistance.
Once enrolled, how well do GEDs perform? Judging from the institutional studies we examined, their grade point averages are close to those of high school graduates. For example, in the 4-year colleges reviewed, the mean GPA of GED recipients in the first year was about a C, while that of high school graduates was a little under C+. In postsecondary vocational programs, GEDs got the same average grades as high school graduates. Moreover, in both the 2- and 4-year colleges and the vocational programs examined, the longer GED recipients stayed in, the more their grades converged with those of high school diploma holders. Upon graduation, the mean grades of the two groups were the same. Their tested cognitive skills no doubt play a significant role in the grades GEDs receive.
There is less parity in postsecondary persistence rates. GED recipients tend to have more attrition-related risk factors than high school graduates (e.g., delayed enrollment, part-time enrollment, single-parent status, and dependent children). While GEDs graduate from vocational programs at almost the same rate as high school diploma holders, they are only one-half as likely to earn associate's degrees and much less likely to earn bachelor's degrees. Relatively low rates of persistence tend to be a problem for GEDs who enroll in college.
In vocational education and training programs, GED recipients seem to be average students. Their grades, time-in-program, and graduation rates are about the same as those of high school graduates. The short-term, job-related nature of these programs and the hands-on learning they entail probably have an appeal for students who left high school early and want to take steps to find better jobs.
As with postsecondary education, GED certification can also help open the door to opportunity in the labor market. It increases full-time employment somewhat, probably by helping part-time workers find full-time jobs, though it seems to have little effect on unemployment. The great majority of employers accept the GED credential as a substitute for a diploma in hiring, and most say they regard it as equivalent to a diploma.
Once on the job, certification itself is of little help. Like other workers, GED recipients have to produce in order to succeed. In two small surveys, most employers said that GEDs performed as well as high school graduates on the job. Controlled studies showed that GED males earned more than other dropouts, but less than high school graduates, and GED females did at least as well as their male counterparts.
However, male GEDs tended to have more job turnover than dropouts, work the same amount of time per year, and have less work experience. Most GED females, on the other hand, have less job turnover than dropouts, spend more time working per year, and have more work experience. High school graduates spent more time working and had less turnover than GEDs of either sex.
In some respects, the labor market performance of female GEDs is stronger than that of males. Relative to dropouts, female GEDs were less likely to be unemployed, spent more time working, had less job turnover, and had greater annual earnings than their male counterparts.
The hourly wages of GED recipients tend to be higher than those of dropouts but lower than those of high school graduates. Most of the GED's effect on wages comes not from the credential, but from the human capital that it represents. (This is also true of high school diplomas and college degrees, but one has to accumulate human capital by investing substantial time and meeting course requirements to earn them.) People who receive GEDs have more secondary schooling and better cognitive skills than other dropouts before they take the tests, and these factors, rather than GED certification, explain most of the wage differences between GEDs and dropouts.
Although GED certification has little direct effect on wages, once education level or ability are controlled, the credential does have indirect effects through further education and training. The GED increases access to postsecondary education and job training, and those who take advantage of this opportunity tend to receive additional gains in earnings.
Formerly, the GED credential also opened the door to opportunity in the military. Until the 1980s the services made no practical distinction between high school graduates and GED recipients. Then a series of research studies demonstrated that GED attrition rates were double those of high school graduates and about the same as those of dropouts. Over a period of time, the military developed a three-tier system for assessing the educational qualifications of applicants. High school graduates are placed in the first tier and are regarded as the best prospective recruits. GEDs are placed in the second tier, and dropouts in the third. Low rates of persistence have been the major problem for GEDs in the military.
All things considered, it's worthwhile for a high school dropout to get a GED. Its biggest advantage is that it increases access to postsecondary education and training, which in turn tend to increase earnings.
On the other hand, GED rates of persistence in the organized, structured activities examined in this study seem to be problematic, especially for males.[64] First evident in high school, the problem appears to recur in other contexts. In the military, GED attrition rates were close to those of dropouts. In postsecondary education, other than vocational programs, GED graduation rates were much lower than those of high school diploma holders. In labor market, male GEDs had more less work experience and more job turnover than dropouts. (The labor market outcomes are suggestive but difficult to interpret. To some extent, they may reflect the opportunity costs of acquiring more education and a tendency to leave old jobs for new ones with better pay.)
The GED measures and certifies cognitive skills, but not the range of other attributes that contribute to persistence. Based on studies of attrition in the military, researchers have concluded that completion of high school demonstrates such attributes and that a high school diploma reflects them. Other standardized tests such as the ASVAB and the SAT do not measure noncognitive attributes, either, but the combination of the tests and a high school diploma covers both the cognitive and the noncognitive dimensions.
Noncognitive skills, abilities, and attitudes come from many sources, especially the family and the school. The role of the school in developing them is widely recognized, but not well enough understood, and the subject would benefit from further inquiry. Involvement in the process of schooling (e.g., regular attendance, meeting deadlines, complying with authority, and cooperating with others) may affect later outcomes as much as learning the content of schooling.
Years of education and training, either preceding or following GED attainment, have much more impact on labor market outcomes than the credential itself. Hence, marginal students should be (and usually are) encouraged to finish high school, wherever possible. For those who do drop out, participation in alternative programs that have structure, rigor, and longevity may recoup some of the advantages lost by not finishing high school. Education policy makers should give more attention to developing innovative high school completion programs leading to a regular or adult diploma. Along other lines, awarding higher levels of GED certification for higher test scores, which educators in South Dakota are considering, may provide an incentive for dropouts to invest more time and energy in studying for the test. Those who pass the test should understand that GED certification is primarily a stepping stone and that additional progress in the labor market can best be made by completing postsecondary education and training programs. Specialized counseling should be considered to help GED recipients persist in their efforts to complete these programs.
In some respects, GED recipients resemble high school graduates (e.g., in basic cognitive skills and college grades); in others, they resemble dropouts (e.g., military attrition, job turnover). In hourly or yearly earnings, they fall between the two. Compared to the earnings of high school graduates, the GED glass appears half empty; compared to those of other dropouts, it appears half full. Given these mixed findings, the common practice of counting GEDs as high school graduates in educational statistics should be reconsidered.
Further, we should keep in mind that neither the high school diploma nor "some college" have been sufficient to enable young adults to maintain earnings over the years since the 1970s. It seems unlikely that, in the absence of other macroeconomic changes, education policy alone can reverse this trend.
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[Notes]