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The GED process provides an opportunity for high school dropouts to demonstrate their cognitive skills and related functional knowledge. Those who take the test tend to have stronger cognitive skills than dropouts in general. For example, in the GED-NALS study (Balwin et al. 1995), GED examinees scored 269-278 on the three NALS tests, while table 7 in the current study shows that dropouts scored 202-208 on the three tests. Simply by taking the test, GED examinees set themselves apart from other dropouts. Using data from table 1 and from Kolstad and Kaufman (1989), we estimate that between 1980 and 1986, 42.1 percent of young high school dropouts took the test battery, a substantial proportion.[27] Using a larger population base, Baldwin estimates that only 1.5 percent of 44 million adults without high school diplomas have taken the GED.[28] In either case, self-selection through deciding to take the test is the major part of the sorting process. Once an individual takes the GED, the probabilities of passing are fairly high, usually in excess of .7.
Data from several studies help to characterize those who prepare for the GED and those who pass it. One way of preparing for the test battery is to enroll in an adult literacy program. According to a review of the literature by Moore and Stavrianos (1995), those who participate and persist in adult literacy programs have more education, are more likely to be employed, and are younger than their nonparticipating counterparts. Rolfe and Wilson (1979) found that among participants in a GED preparation program, those who completed it described themselves in more positive terms than those who did not.
What do we know about the characteristics of those who pass the GED? Typically, the GED recipients in the national longitudinal studies earned their credentials at around age 19-20 (Murnane et al. 1995, 1997; Cameron 1994). They had left school in the tenth or eleventh grade, having acquired more schooling than other dropouts (Murnane et al. 1995, 1997; Maloney, 1991). Their parents had more education than the parents of dropouts but less than those of high school graduates (Murnane et al. 1995, 1997; Cameron 1994; Cameron and Heckman 1993; Garet et al. 1996). Their families' income followed the same pattern (Cameron 1994; Cameron and Heckman 1993; Garet et al. 1996; Kolstad and Kaufman 1989). The GEDs came from smaller families than did dropouts, but larger families than high school graduates (Cameron 1994, Garet et al. 1996). Female GEDs were less likely than graduates to come from two-parent families and equally likely or more likely than dropouts to come from such families (Cameron 1994, Maloney 1991). GEDs were more heavily minority (black or Hispanic) than graduates, but less so than other dropouts (Kolstad and Kaufman 1989; Cameron and Heckman 1993; Cameron 1994; Garet et al. 1996). However, two studies found that blacks were not disproportionately represented among GEDs (Maloney 1991, Murnane et al. 1997).
Evidently the process of preparing for and passing the GED tends to select high school dropouts who have more personal and social resources than other dropouts as well as stronger cognitive skills. They have fewer of these assets than high school graduates, however.
Having functioned to select dropouts with relatively good cognitive skills, the GED process certifies these individuals as having passed the tests and typically provides a high school equivalency award. This certification can serve to signal educational institutions, employers, and others that the GED recipient has demonstrated thinking skills and skills in reading, writing, and math at the high school level, according to state standards.
The educational and employment outcomes of the GED depend substantially on the extent to which educational institutions and employers accept GED certification as meeting a criterion for admission or hiring and on how they regard the credential.
Postsecondary institutions usually accept the GED, but many require additional evidence of ability to perform in college. In this respect, admission requirements for GEDs are similar to those for high school graduates, who often have to provide evidence, beyond a diploma, of their ability to perform well at the postsecondary level. ACE's Commission on Educational Credit and Credentials recommends that if a college or university has additional requirements beyond a high school diploma, they should apply to GED recipients as well as to high school graduates.[29]
In 1979, ACE surveyed 3,300 2-year and 4-year institutions, receiving responses from 2,236 (Spille memorandum 1982, reported in Quinn 1986). Almost all the responding institutions (95 percent) admitted non-high school graduates, including GEDs and those with other alternative forms of certification. Some 90 percent admitted GED recipients.[30] Of those accepting GEDs, 51 percent required additional information, such as scores from the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), the American College Testing Program (ACT), or the College-Level Examination Program (CLEP), demonstrating competency to undertake college coursework, and 15 percent required GED scores above the state minimum. We surmise that the 4-year colleges in the sample were more likely to require additional information, and the 2-year colleges were less likely to do so.
ACE surveyed postsecondary institutions again in 1986, receiving 391 responses from its sample of 487 institutions (Hexter and Anderson 1986). The findings were similar to those of the earlier survey. The great majority of institutions (92 percent) had policies permitting students to matriculate without a traditional high school diploma but requiring alternative certification. Of those, 91 percent (84 percent of the total) accepted the GED credential. In addition, many colleges and universities required scores from other tests, such as the SAT, the ACT, and the CLEP. The proportion of institutions requiring GED scores, as well as passing status, was higher than in the previous survey. Just under half of those accepting the GED credential also had minimum GED score requirements. There may also have been other requirements not covered by the survey.[31]
A survey of postsecondary institutions in Wisconsin found that all 4-year colleges in the state, except one, accepted GED certification (Pawasarat and Quinn 1986). Consistent with the national pattern, some colleges required GED scores above the minimum 225, and some also required minimum SAT or ACT scores. Two public colleges required GED holders to enter on probationary status. Admissions officers in 20 private colleges were usually satisfied with the performance of GED holders who met the other requirements for admission (e.g., minimum ACT or SAT scores and an acceptable individual scholastic record). The state's 2-year colleges accepted GEDs but required them to follow the same procedures as high school graduates in the lowest quartile of their classes--for example, restricting their first semester courseload to 12 credit hours. Vocational programs accepted GEDs, but many also required specific high school courses.[32]
In addition to opening doors to postsecondary education, GED certification can also help GED enrollees obtain financial aid such as Pell Grants and Guaranteed Student Loans. To receive aid, students must demonstrate financial need and an ability to benefit from aid. As noted earlier, U.S. Department of Education policy provides that possession of a GED credential is one way to demonstrate ability to benefit. Other ways include having a high school diploma or passing another government-approved test.
Large numbers of students, including many GEDs, receive federal grants and loans to help pay for postsecondary education, especially in community colleges, proprietary schools, and public technical colleges. One study (Dynarski 1994) found that 44.2 percent of GED recipients defaulted on Guaranteed Student Loans, as compared to 14.4 percent of high school graduates and 56.2 percent of dropouts. However, students represented in this data set left postsecondary institutions between one and two decades ago, and there have been important changes in the student loan program since then. We have been unable to find more recent data.
In local survey data from 1977 through 1995, the great majority of employers accepted the GED as a substitute for a high school diploma, and most of them explicitly regarded it as equivalent to a diploma (table 10).
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Further, a majority of those responding to two surveys thought that GED recipients performed their work as well as high school graduates. Thiele and Sloan (1984) found that 59 percent of his survey respondents in Illinois considered their GED employees generally successful or very successful in their work, and only 0.8 percent considered GEDs less successful than high school graduates.[34] Some 53.9 percent of these employers were equally satisfied with the performance of GEDs and high school graduates; 3.7 percent were more satisfied with the performance of GEDs; and only 0.8 percent were less satisfied with GEDs than with high school graduates. Similarly, 56 percent of the Florida employers responding to Grise and Klein's (1987) survey thought GED recipients performed as well as high school graduates; 4 percent said the GEDs performed better; and 12 percent said they did not perform as well. Their data also indicated that employers thought GED recipients did reasonably well in promotions, retention, and dismissals, though not always as well as high school graduates.
However, many of the employer studies reviewed raise questions about the relevance of all secondary education credentials to many hiring decisions. For example, the El Paso study reported that large numbers of employers did not require high school-level credentials for production jobs. In Illinois, only 15 percent of the employers in Mally and Charuhas's survey said they usually required a high school diploma for employment (i.e., more than 75 percent of the time). In another Illinois study, King observed that "the pattern of responses ... quite clearly suggests that educational credentials ... simply are not very important elements in the hiring decision." Credentials ranked second least important in a list of factors in hiring decisions. Carson noted that in the Denver area "many jobs are available to applicants whether or not they have an educational credential." After surveying employers in North Carolina, Whitaker observed that "respondents in this study indicated that educational credentials were important but at the same time placed a higher priority on job performance. This researcher wonders if the emphasis placed on high school educational credentials [is] relevant in today's workplace" (p. 104). On the other hand, McClurg reported that while most employers in his study did not require a high school diploma or an equivalency degree, nearly all preferred some kind of secondary credential.
A national survey of employers reported by Malizio and Whitney (1985) did find that educational credentials were important in employment practices, but the study covered credentials at both the secondary and postsecondary levels. The value of a college degree in employment decisions is not at issue here. At least two other studies based on national survey data (Stull n.d., EQW n.d.) have concluded that employers pay little attention to secondary school records.
If the saliency of secondary education credentials for employer decisions is low, then the distinction between those with credentials and those without may not be very important, and the signal that an employer receives from either kind of certification may be a weak one.
Further, the fact that employers generally accept the GED as equivalent to a high school diploma does not necessarily mean that their impressions are accurate. The military accepted the GED as an equivalency certificate until research showed that GED recipients had much higher attrition rates than high school graduates. In the civilian labor market, the results of systematic research on outcomes of the GED must be reviewed to see whether certification is systematically related to such things as hiring and wages, after other factors are controlled.
Many adult educators believe that passing the GED can help break this cycle by building self-confidence. In so doing, the tests may provide a first step toward improving one's condition. Additional steps may include enrolling in higher education and seeking a better job. What does the research evidence tell us about the GED's effect on self-esteem?
Anecdotal accounts from test administrators and adult educators are replete with references to the enhanced self-esteem of GED recipients, and survey evidence largely confirms these impressions. For example, Mally and Charuhas (1977) found that 88 percent of the GED recipients they surveyed in Illinois said they felt better about themselves as a result of passing the tests. (Only 1 percent said they did not, while 11 percent did not answer the question.) Similarly, Darkenwald and Valentine (1985) reported that 94 percent of the respondents to a followup survey in New Jersey said that feeling better about themselves was one benefit of the tests. In a survey of GED graduates conducted by the Iowa Department of Education (1992), 77 percent said that passing the GED increased their self-esteem "very much," and an additional 18 percent said it increased their self-esteem to some extent. In her survey of GED recipients in Maryland, Reed (1985) found that 73 percent of respondents reported increased self-confidence in their abilities, and 93 percent felt that the program had given them a second chance. Almost 90 percent said that their families were pleased, half felt that their lives had gained more direction, and 43 percent said that they had assumed more responsibility as a result of passing the tests.
Most high school dropouts who pass the GED, then, feel better about themselves, and their increased self-esteem may help them acquire more education, get better jobs, and generally improve their life circumstances. To what extent this new self-confidence endures over the long term is an important question, but one for which there is no answer at present.
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[Postsecondary Outcomes]