This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Tyler, J. H. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Economic Benefits of the GED: Lessons From Recent Research

Brown University

In 1998, the U.S. Department of Education published a comprehensive synthesis of the General Educational Development certificate (GED). Since that time, additional research has shed light on the economic benefits of the GED. This review of that research highlights four lessons. First, the presence of the GED option may encourage some students to drop out of school. Second, economic benefits associated with a GED accrue only to dropouts who leave school with very low skills. Third, economic benefits associated with a GED appear over time rather than immediately upon receipt of the credential. Fourth, the returns to postsecondary education and training are as large for GED holders as for regular high school graduates, but GED holders obtain very little postsecondary education or on-the-job training.

Key Words: adult education • dropouts • human capital • program evaluation

Review of Educational Research, Vol. 73, No. 3, 369-403 (2003)
DOI: 10.3102/00346543073003369


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				S.-R. Ou Do GED Recipients Differ From Graduates and School Dropouts?: Findings From an Inner-City Cohort Urban Education, January 1, 2008; 43(1): 83 - 117. [Abstract] [PDF]

				J. W. Sipple, K. Killeen, and D. H. Monk Adoption and Adaptation: School District Responses to State Imposed Learning and Graduation Requirements Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, January 1, 2004; 26(2): 143 - 168. [PDF]