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What You May Not Know About the GED

Taking the General Educational Development (GED) test is not the same as earning a diploma from an accredited high school. After spending many hours preparing for the exam, paying for prep classes and a testing fee, driving to the testing center and taking a single 7-hour test, more than 4 of 10 test-takers fail the exam and are no better off than when they started.

Those who DO pass the GED look forward to earning on average only $18,776 a year. As compared to a high school diploma earner, those who pass the GED:

  • Earn $216,550 less over a lifetime,
  • Experience more than twice the rate of unemployment
  • Lose job and promotion opportunities to high school diploma earners.

And if you were thinking about going to college, 95 out of 100 GED earners who start drop out of 4-year college programs. If you're thinking about going to a career college, 75 out of 100 GED earners who start don't finish.

Still not convinced? Some college admissions departments, many employers and the US Army prefer high school diploma earners to those who passed the GED. A study by Nobel Prize-winning economist James Heckman and colleague Stephen Cameron found earning a GED is no better than being a dropout - it will not increase your chances of getting a better job or earning a higher wage.

You can do better than that. You're worth more than that. Earn your high school diploma...

Sources:

"General Academic Achievement of Adult High School Dropouts", GED Testing Service Research Studies, 2002-1

"2007 GED Testing Program Statistical Report", GED Testing Service Research Studies, 2007

"The Nonequivalence of High School Equivalents", Cameron, S.V. and Heckman, J. J.. 1991.

"Economic and Noneconomic Outsome for GED Credential Recipients", GED Testing Service Research Studies, 2008-2