A GED for Higher Education

One of the big problems with expanding higher educational attainment is that the actual learning is tied up with the credentialing process in murky ways. On the high school level, by contrast, we have the notion of a GED that at least partially helps separate out the issue of what building you spent time in from what you actually know. And as Chad Alderman explains it works pretty well:

Since 1942, more than 17 million Americans have earned their high school credential through this route, including 500,000 people in 2008. According to research by James Heckman, adults with GEDS increase the high school “graduation” rate by 7-9 percentage points.

A GED diploma’s value is somewhere between the real thing and none at all. Students who earn the real diploma tend to do better than GED earners in college and later life, even after controlling for income and ability. But, GED earners are a notch above their non-GED peers. After controlling for demographic factors, adults who earn their GED are more likely than non-earners to be employed, earn higher salaries, vote, volunteer, have health insurance, use a library, read, and be engaged parents.

The point of Alderman’s post is to make the case that developing a GED-like system for people who don’t have the opportunity or inclination to obtain a traditional bachelor’s degree would be valuable. I agree. On the one hand, it would be good for the people who take advantage of the opportunity to get one. On the other hand, it would inject some competition into the higher education marketplace.