GED Recipients in High School: 2002–06 - Issue Brief

Sep 14, 2026

The issue brief examines how General Educational Development (GED) recipients compare with high school graduates and dropouts without a GED during high school. It outlines key demographic characteristics of GED recipients and contrasts participation in school, academic achievement, and plans for postsecondary education two years later. Using Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS:2002) data, it also analyzes reasons GED recipients gave for leaving high school and earning the credential. Results place GED recipients between graduates and dropouts on socioeconomic status and parental education measures.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages3

Reading Time8 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

GED vs. high school outcomes

Data Source and Study Design

ELS:2002 and follow-ups

Student completion-status categories

Distribution and Select Characteristics

Socioeconomic status and parental education

Demographics and school-relevant factors

Comparative Measures

10th-grade participation and 12th-grade plans

Reasons for leaving school and obtaining a GED

U.S. Department of Education NCES 2012–025 Brief November 2011 Characteristics of GED Recipients in High School: 2002–06 The General Educational Development (GED) credential is often considered to be the equivalent of a high school diploma for students who do not graduate from high school. A GED credential can expand opportunities in the labor market (Song and Hsu 2008) and in postsecondary education for those who obtain it. Nearly all postsecondary institutions (98 percent) that require highschool diplomas for application purposes also recognize the GED credential as sufficient to meet minimum educational requirements (American Council on Education 2008) . Nonetheless, GED recipients do not enroll in postsecondary education at the same rate as do high school graduates. For instance, more than 64 percent of students who graduated from high school in 2003 were enrolled in a 2-or 4-year institution of higher education in 2003 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 2004) . By comparison, a study of 2003 GED recipients found only 31 percent of GED recipients enrolled in a postsecondary institution within 5 years, and the majority of those enrolled for just one semester (Patterson, Song and Zhang 2009) . Similarly, GED recipients do not fare as well as high school graduates in the labor market, where GED recipients have relatively lower future earnings (Heckman, Humphries, and Mader 2010) . While GED recipients may not realize outcomes equivalent to those of high school graduates, GED recipients fare better on several outcomes—including future earnings, life satisfaction, levels of depression, and substance abuse—than do high school dropouts who do not obtain the credential (Ou 2008; Heckman, Humphries, and Mader 2010) . Previous research has examined high school graduates, GED recipients, and high school dropouts without a GED for differences in demographic characteristics and outcomes after high school. However, differences that are apparent during the years leading up to graduation are of particular interest to educators and policymakers because students’ progression toward or away from graduation occurs during this time. Thus, this Issue Brief compares GED recipients to high school graduates and dropouts without a GED, during high school. First, the brief describes various demographic characteristics of GED recipients (i.e., gender, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, native language, family composition, and parents’ highest level of education) . Second, the brief compares GED recipients to high school graduates and dropouts without a GED by 10th-grade participation in school, academic achievement, and plans for postsecondary education 2 years later, in 12th grade. Finally, the brief explores the reasons GED recipients reported for leaving high school and obtaining a GED credential. The Issue Brief draws on data from the base-year study and first and second follow-ups of the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS:2002) . The ELS:2002 is conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics, which is part of the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences, and contains data from a nationally representative sample of public and private school students who were 10th-graders in spring 2002. By 2006, about 4 percent of 2002 high school 10th-graders had obtained a GED credential, compared to 88 percent who had earned a high school diploma, 5 percent who had dropped out, and 3 percent who did not fall into any of these three categories at that time (Dalton, Glennie, and Ingels 2009) .1 Distribution of Students by High School Completion Status and Select Characteristics In this comparative analysis, respondents are categorized by their completion status as of spring 2006: graduates (respondents who had earned a high school diploma); GED recipients; and dropouts (respondents who had no credential, were not in high school, and were not pursuing a GED). These categories only hold for one point in ti

FAQs

What does the issue brief compare regarding GED recipients during high school?

It compares GED recipients with high school graduates and dropouts without a GED, focusing on demographics, school participation, academic achievement, and postsecondary education plans two years later.

Which dataset supports the analysis?

The brief draws on the base-year study and first and second follow-ups of the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS:2002), which includes a nationally representative sample of 10th-graders in spring 2002.

How are students categorized in the analysis, and when?

Students are categorized by high school completion status as of spring 2006 into graduates (earned a diploma), GED recipients, and dropouts (no credential, not in high school, and not pursuing a GED).

What reasons are examined for GED recipients?

The brief explores the reasons GED recipients reported for leaving high school and obtaining the GED credential.

Sep 14, 2026

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