9th to 12th grade, no diploma 21,960,148 12.1 High school graduate (includes equivalency) 52,168,981 28.6 Some college, no degree 38,351,595 21.0 Associate degree 11,512,833 6.3 Bachelor's degree 28,317,792 15.5 Graduate or professional degree 16,144,813 8.9 Percent high school graduate or higher 80.4 (X) Percent bachelor's degree or higher 24.4 (X)
GED 2000 Statistical Report: (2001) “ Who Took the GED?” American Council on Education, GED Testing Service.
The following is the comparative look at the educational attainment among United States citizens between 1990 and 2000. Table 4 EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT 2000 – Number 2000 - Percentage 1990 - Number 1990 - Percentage
Population 25 years and
over... 182,211,639 100.0 158,868,436 100.0
Less than 9th
grade... 13,755,477 7.5 16,502,211 10.4 9th to 12th grade, no
diploma... 21,960,148 12.1 22,841,507 14.4 High school graduate (includes
equivalency)... 52,168,981 28.6 47,642,763 30.0 Some college, no degree... 38,351,595 21.0 29,779,777 18.7 Associate degree... 11,512,833 6.3 9,791,925 6.2 Bachelor's degree... 28,317,792 15.5 20,832,567 13.1 Graduate or professional degree... 16,144,813 8.9 11,477,686 7.2
Percent high school graduate or
higher... 80.4 (X) 75.2 (X) Percent bachelor's degree or
higher... 24.4 (X) 20.3 (X)
GED 1990 Statistical Report, (1991) American Council on Education, GED Testing Service.
GED 2000 Statistical Report: (2001) “ Who Took the GED?” American Council on Education, GED Testing Service.
These corresponding profiles show a relationship between educational attainment and employment status for the national population.
These figures indicate a decrease in educational attainment and an increase in the numbers of students who have achieved either a high school diploma or a GED. Unfortunately, they also show a drastic increase in the number of students who have enrolled in colleges and universities and have not received a diploma.
This reflects a change in the educational system and the educator’s ability to retain students and graduate more students from the high school level who eventually go on to post high school education in the form of two year or four- year colleges. However, it ignores the concept that many students may be following the wrong high school career track depending on their interests and that alternative forms of high school should be investigated.
Who is Taking the GED Test?
In 2000, there were more GED test takers in the sixteen to nineteen age groups than any other age group (Table 5). Individuals aged twenty to twenty-four accounted for the next largest percentage and as age increased, the percentage decreased. Eighteen percent were between thirty and forty-nine years old and three percent were fifty years or older. The GED test is an option for many people who are preparing for jobs or post-secondary education as indicated by the
Table 5
Age Distribution of GED Credentials Issued
Credentials Issues, 2000 16-17 Years 18- 19 Years 20-24 Years 25-29 Years 30-49 Years 50 and Older United States 486,997 16% 29% 25% 10% 16% 2% SREB 200,755 19 17 24 11 17 3 Alabama 7092 10 35 26 12 16 3 Arkansas 7105 31 21 19 10 17 3 Delaware 661 20 23 27 12 16 2 Florida 29,312 11 37 26 9 15 2 Georgia 18,703 17 34 23 10 14 2 Kentucky 13,211 12 24 26 12 22 4 Louisiana 8373 26 27 23 11 12 2 Maryland 6,200 15 28 26 11 18 2 Mississippi 6660 - - - - North Carolina 14, 858 24 24 23 10 17 3 Oklahoma 8,096 19 23 24 11 19 3 South Carolina 5,654 22 24 25 11 15 2 Tennessee 13,742 23 26 21 10 17 3 Texas 46,148 22 24 23 11 18 2 Virginia 11,386 20 28 22 10 17 3 West Virginia 3,554 15 30 24 11 17 3
Table 6
Age Distribution of People Taking the GED Tests
Number Tested, 20002 16-19 Years 20-24 Years 25-29 Years 30-49 Years 50 and Older United States 811, 2000 43% 25% 10% 17% 2% SREB 324,327 44 24 11 18 3 Alabama 11,646 41 27 12 17 3 Arkansas 8,578 52 20 10 16 2 Delaware 853 41 28 11 17 3 Florida 45,148 45 27 10 16 2 Georgia 33,761 46 25 10 16 3 Kentucky 17,838 37 26 11 21 5 Louisiana 11,136 51 24 11 13 2 Maryland 11,704 38 27 11 22 3 Mississippi 13590 - - - - - North Carolina 23,270 44 23 10 19 3 Oklahoma 11,599 42 24 11 20 4 South Carolina 8,472 45 25 11 16 3 Tennessee 21,330 47 21 10 18 3 Texas 82,132 44 23 11 20 3 Virginia 17,586 45 21 10 20 4 West Virginia 5,684 40 24 11 21 4
GED 2000 Statistical Report: Who Took the GED? American Council on Education, GED Testing Service 2001
These results vary according to gender. Male GED recipients tend to work less than dropouts and have more job turnover than female recipients who work more and have less job turnover. However, when compared to high school graduates, GED recipients are less likely to be employed, have higher job turnover and earn less according to the American Youth Policy Forum (Boessel and Alsalam, 1998).
These statistics should encourage students to stay in school, to receive a high school diploma or achieve the GED in order to further their education and career opportunities and diffuse the high job turnover stigma associated with high school leavers. For many, achieving the GED, meant the difference between low income and moderate income, no education to an open door to education and no job opportunities to increasing job opportunities. This further defines the support system of the student and gives meaning to words like encouragement, support, self- esteem and structure.
Types of GED Students
There are many types of GED students just as there are similarities among “high school leavers.” The first type of GED student is the student who leaves high school and immediately attends a GED program in order to remain with his or her class and enter into higher education. These students may leave high school in an attempt to leave a violent situation although
Brouilette’s (1999) report in the Kappan notes that less than half of the students interviewed had been involved with gangs. Or, these students think that school is not teaching them what they need to know, they are not learning what they need to learn or they wish to seek their education elsewhere (LeCompte, 1987). A third aspect is that they may not be receiving the challenge or the encouragement they need in order to “want” to stay in school. Brouillette (1999) reinforces
Deyhle’s (1992) study that many of the students felt that school was useless and that the
adverse feelings of hopelessness and uncontrollable circumstances that many felt by remaining in high school could be avoided by leaving school and seeking education elsewhere. Brouillette (1999) does mention that the GED is associated with positive benefits derived from a better association between students and instructors. The GED was not simply a rite of passage but also represented a change in the way students viewed education and their futures.
The second type of GED students appears to be adults who return to school after some hiatus to fulfill the requirements necessary to enter into a two or four year program. This group of students is further separated into two categories: those who go on to higher education in the school system and those who are looking toward the vocational, technical, merchant marine or other such field.
Profile of Selected Economic Characteristics: 2000
Although receiving the GED as an alternate form of the high school diploma and
improving one’s financial status and job related marketable skills is the primary reason for taking the GED test, studies show that those receiving the GED still earn less than those who have received a high school diploma. The 1996 Census Bureau reports that GED recipients age fifteen and older received fifteen percent less than high school diploma recipients. This same study shows that GED recipients and the number of dropouts without GED certificates are the same (Andrews, 2002).
Murnane (1999) claims that changes in the American economy over the past twenty years have been unfavorable for high school dropouts (Murnane, 1999). Between 1979 and 1996, earnings for males between twenty-five and thirty-four fell by twenty- eight percent. The National Center for Educational Statistics reports that the percentage of eighteen to twenty-four
year old Americans who left high school without a diploma increased from 21.2 percent in 1994 to 25.3 percent in 1998 (Murnane, 1999).
A central point here, critical in understanding the GED, is that the outcome, economically speaking, is much like achieving the high school diploma. The labor market value of the GED is different for students who leave school with very weak cognitive skills than it is for students who leave school with stronger skills. Students who leave school with weak cognitive skills tend to have a more difficult time in today’s job markets (Murnane,1999). This may result in large periods of unemployment speckled by short-term blue-collar jobs. This type of track record makes a “high school leaver” very unattractive to job placement agencies and employers. However, receiving a GED changes this record with employers who see that the “high school leaver” has matured and has acquired at least a minimum set of cognitive skills. This allows them improved access to jobs and the all too important work experience (Murnane, 1999). Employers believe that GED holders are more productive employees than are dropouts who lack the credential. Hence, employers may sometimes use the GED as a sign of hard to observe attributes such as motivation, dependability and commitment. Thus students with the GED credential could expect to be hired and given better wages than those without the GED or high school diploma (Tyler, 2003).
For those who leave high school with strong cognitive skills, the GED does not improve labor market outcomes (Murnane, 1999). Overall, the GED allows low skilled “high school leavers” in their mid-twenties to earn about as much as high skilled “high school-leavers” who don’t possess a GED (Murnane, 1999). GED holders are not the labor market equivalents of high school graduates (Tyler, 2003).
For students with weak cognitive skills, studying for the GED can lead to an increase in skills that can be valuable in the job market. For those who receive the GED, there is a direct correlation between time spent studying for the GED and the amount of human capitol accumulation (Tyler, 2003).
Students who drop out of high school and earn a GED do not do as well in the job market as those who stay in high school and earn a high school diploma (Murnane, 1999). GED holder’s quarterly earnings were estimated to be $285, $326, $330 and $336 more than the quarterly earnings of “drop-outs” without a GED. This represents a fifteen percent gain in earnings for a successful GED candidate (Tyler, 2001.) “It does not appear that the GED is an economically valuable credential for dropouts, but only for those who leave school with weak cognitive skills. There appears to be no payoff to a GED for dropouts who leave school with higher [cognitive] skills (Tyler, 2003). ” This may be noted in Tables 7 and 8 that represent the employment status of the population over 16, and compares it to the population over 16 of females only, as of the 1990 census.
There is another aspect to the impact of the economy due to GED diplomas. “In fiscal year 1999-2000, federal funds for adult education programs authorized by the adult education and Family Literacy Act of 1998 totaled $365 million. The bulk of these funds benefited GED preparation programs offered by public high schools, community colleges, community based organizations, prisons and other organizations involved in adult education” (Tyler, 2003). The economic effect of the GED is not only felt by those who choose to receive the GED but also by those who choose to pay for it.
Table 7 Profile of Selected Charateristics:2000