College Readiness, Early Post-secondary Academic Performance and the GED Degree: Evidence from Kentucky

T M Tonmoy Islam and Rouse Kathryn ()
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Rouse Kathryn: Department of Economics, Elon University, 2075 CB, Elon, NC 27244, USA

The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, 2022, vol. 22, issue 1, 67-98

Abstract: We use detailed administrative data from Kentucky to provide robust descriptive evidence on the relationship between the General Educational Development (GED) degree, college readiness, and early post-secondary (PSE) academic performance. Following previous work in this area, we address selection issues by focusing on a sample of students who are identified as at-risk prior to high school entry. Our results suggest the GED credential is not a credible signal of PSE readiness, particularly in mathematics. GED graduates attain a lower first semester GPA and are also less likely to re-enroll in second semester courses. We also find that changes made to the GED exam in 2014 to enhance student readiness in PSE institutions did not yield meaningful improvements. Finally, we investigate the extent to which differences in math coursework can explain estimated GED-related math readiness gaps, finding coursework to account for about for about 40 percent of the observed gap.

Keywords: GED; college readiness; post-secondary education (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I21 I23 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1515/bejeap-2021-0278

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