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August 14, 2010 12:00 PM
The GED Problem
While most colleges officially accept the General Educational Development Test (GED) for admission, it’s actually very, very difficult for high school dropouts to be admitted to colleges with only that credential. Part of the trouble is that people generally only end up earning a GED after failing high school, dropping out, and spending a few years trying to get jobs. West Virginia is working to change that. According to an Associated Press article in the Charleston Gazette
The West Virginia Board of Education is making it easier for students at risk of dropping out to stay in school and earn a diploma.
Policy changes approved Wednesday allow students to earn a General Educational Development diploma while still enrolled in high school. Under the current policy, students under age 18 have to withdraw from school before they take the GED test.
Removing the dropout necessity from the GED test is a good first step in eliminating the failure stigma from the GED holder.
Still, one wonders if West Virginia plans to take any more steps to make the GED more respectable.
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Joanne Jacobs on August 16, 2010 7:03 PM:
In the late '50s, my brother-in-law dropped out of high school and enlisted in the Navy, which trained him to do electronics. After serving for two or three years, he took the GED and passed with a very high score. He went to Cal Poly, showed his GED score and asked what else he needed to do to get in to study computers. The admissions guy went to talk to the dean of engineering. He came back after five minutes and told my brother-in-law he was in and could stay in if he maintained a B average. He earned straight A's, completed a computer science degree in four years and worked for many years as a programmer.
Of course, that was then.