Does a Ged Lead to More Training, Post-Secondary Education, and Military Service for School Dropouts?

Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth for the years 1979–91, the authors investigate how school dropouts' acquisition of a General Educational Development certificate (GED) affected the probability that they would obtain training, post-secondary education, or military service. The authors use the longitudinal data to estimate prototypical training and education profiles. They find that the probability that a dropout participated in post-secondary education or non-company training was greater after GED receipt than before for both men and women. Still, less than half of GED recipients obtained post-secondary education or training by age 26.