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In 2008, nearly 500,000 dropouts passed, representing about 12% of high school credentials issued. A literature review finds minimal labor-market value of the certificate, with only limited use as a route to further credentials.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/the-ged-nber-working-paper-16064-june-2010/264572/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/the-ged-nber-working-paper-16064-june-2010/264572.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Theodore","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-22","2026-09-14",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":52},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What is the GED credential and how is it awarded?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"The GED credential is issued based on an eight-hour, subject-based test intended to establish equivalence between dropouts and traditional high school graduates.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"What does the academic literature say about GED value in the labor market?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"The literature finds minimal value of the GED certificate for labor-market outcomes, with only a few individuals using it successfully to obtain post-secondary credentials.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"How does the GED affect education statistics and schooling decisions?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"The GED testing program can distort social statistics on high school completion and minority graduation gaps, and recent work shows it can induce some students to drop out due to its availability and low cost.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},264572,1789383713,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":52,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":129,"read_time":144,"preview_page_count":4},7971461740886,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_3d24733baf745e90a7e4bdd5f77d97b2","NBER WORKING PAPER SERIES  \nTHE GED  \nJames J. Heckman  \nJohn Eric Humphries  \nNicholas S. Mader  \nWorking Paper 16064  \n[http://www.nber.org/papers/w16064](http://www.nber.org/papers/w16064)  \nNATIONAL BUREAU OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH  \n1050 Massachusetts Avenue  \nCambridge, MA 02138  \nJune 2010  \nThis research was supported by NIH R01-HD054702, the American Bar Foundation, The California Endowment, The Commonwealth Foundation, The Nemours Foundation, the Buffett Early Childhood Fund, the Spencer Foundation, an Anonymous funder, and the J.B. and M.K. Pritzker Foundation. We are grateful for the helpful comments of the Handbook authors present at the CESIfo Munich conference. We also received helpful research assistance from Pana Alvarez and Joel Han. We would like to personally thank Lois M. Quinn, who provided valuable comments. The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the funders or other parties listed here. A more complete description of the GED program is presented in our two books, Heckman, Humphries, and Mader [2010a,b]. The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the funders, other parties listed here, or the National Bureau of Economic Research.  \nNBER working papers are circulated for discussion and comment purposes. They have not been peerreviewed or been subject to the review by the NBER Board of Directors that accompanies official NBER publications.  \n© 2010 by James J. Heckman, John Eric Humphries, and Nicholas S. Mader. All rights reserved. Short sections of text, not to exceed two paragraphs, may be quoted without explicit permission provided that full credit, including © notice, is given to the source.  \nThe GED  \nJames J. Heckman, John Eric Humphries, and Nicholas S. Mader NBER Working Paper No. 16064  \nJune 2010, Revised September 2010  \nJEL No. I21,J24,J31  \nABSTRACT  \nThe General Educational Development (GED) credential is issued on the basis of an eight hour subject-based test. The test claims to establish equivalence between dropouts and traditional high school graduates, opening the door to college and positions in the labor market. In 2008 alone, almost 500,000 dropouts passed the test, amounting to 12% of all high school credentials issued in that year. This chapter reviews the academic literature on the GED, which finds minimal value of the certificate in terms of labor market outcomes and that only a few individuals successfully use it as a path to obtain post-secondary credentials. Although the GED establishes cognitive equivalence on one measure of scholastic aptitude, recipients still face limited opportunity due to deficits in noncognitive skills such as persistence, motivation and reliability. The literature finds that the GED testing program distorts social statistics on high school completion rates, minority graduation gaps, and sources of wage growth. Recent work demonstrates that, through its availability and low cost, the GED also induces some students to drop out of school. The GED program is unique to the United States and Canada, but provides policy insight relevant to any nation's educational context.  \nJames J. Heckman Department of Economics The University of Chicago 1126 E. 59th Street Chicago, IL 60637  \nand University College Dublin and IZA and also NBER  \n[jjh@uchicago.edu](jjh@uchicago.edu)  \nJohn Eric Humphries Department of Economics 1126 E. 59th Street  \nChicago IL 60637 [johnerichumphries@gmail.com](johnerichumphries@gmail.com)  \nNicholas S. Mader University of Chicago Department of Economics 1126 E. 59th Street Chicago IL 60637 [nmader@uchicago.edu](nmader@uchicago.edu)  \nContents  \n1 Introduction 4  \n2 Institutional Background and Functions of the GED 6  \n2.1 The GED Test .................................................... 6  \n3 The E✛ects of GED Certi✜cation 13  \n3.1 The Direct Bene✜t of GED Certi✜cation ..................................... 13  \n3.1.1 Average Labor Market Outcomes ...","cbCaipBo6vL8CHiu","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaipBo6vL8CHiu","pdf",12813915,67,"English","# Introduction\n## Institutional Background and Functions of the GED\n## The Effects of GED Certification\n## Changes and Growth in the GED Test Taking Population\n## Adverse Consequences of the GED\n## Conclusion","[{\"question\":\"What is the GED credential and how is it awarded?\",\"answer\":\"The GED credential is issued based on an eight-hour, subject-based test intended to establish equivalence between dropouts and traditional high school graduates.\"},{\"question\":\"What does the academic literature say about GED value in the labor market?\",\"answer\":\"The literature finds minimal value of the GED certificate for labor-market outcomes, with only a few individuals using it successfully to obtain post-secondary credentials.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the GED affect education statistics and schooling decisions?\",\"answer\":\"The GED testing program can distort social statistics on high school completion and minority graduation gaps, and recent work shows it can induce some students to drop out due to its availability and low cost.\"}]","The GED - NBER Working Paper 16064 - June 2010 | PDF",169]