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Digest of Education Statistics
1999 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest

Table 107  General Educational Development (GED) credentials issued, and number and age of test takers: United States and outlying areas, 1971 to 1998

____________________________________________________________________________________________
        | Number of  |Number com- | Number of  | Percent distribution of test takers, by age
        |credentials |pleting test|    test    |____________________________________________
  Year  | issued, in |battery, in | takers, in | 19 or  |20 to 24 |25 to 29 |30 to 34|35 or
        |thousands\1\|thousands\2\|thousands\3\|  less  |         |         |        | over
________|____________|____________|____________|________|_________|_________|________|______
   1    |     2      |     3      |     4      |   5    |    6    |    7    |   8    |  9
________|____________|____________|____________|________|_________|_________|________|______
1971 ...|        227 |        --- |        377 |    --- |     --- |     --- |    --- |  ---
1972 ...|        245 |        --- |        419 |    --- |     --- |     --- |    --- |  ---
1973 ...|        249 |        --- |        423 |    --- |     --- |     --- |    --- |  ---
1974 ...|        295 |        412 |        540 |     35 |      27 |      13 |      9 |   17
1975 ...|        342 |        507 |        652 |     33 |      26 |      14 |      9 |   18
        |            |            |            |        |         |         |        |
1976 ...|        337 |        507 |        656 |     31 |      28 |      14 |     10 |   17
1977 ...|        331 |        488 |        680 |     40 |      24 |      13 |      9 |   14
1978 ...|        381 |        467 |        641 |     31 |      27 |      13 |     10 |   19
1979 ...|        435 |        583 |        744 |     35 |      27 |      13 |      8 |   16
1980 ...|        488 |        708 |        779 |     37 |      27 |      13 |      8 |   15
        |            |            |            |        |         |         |        |
1981 ...|        500 |        701 |        770 |     37 |      27 |      13 |      8 |   15
1982 ...|        494 |        692 |        756 |     37 |      28 |      13 |      8 |   15
1983 ...|        477 |        678 |        740 |     34 |      29 |      14 |      9 |   15
1984 ...|        437 |        613 |        676 |     32 |      28 |      15 |      9 |   16
1985 ...|        427 |        622 |        685 |     33 |      26 |      15 |     10 |   16
        |            |            |            |        |         |         |        |
1986 ...|        439 |        648 |        713 |     33 |      26 |      15 |     10 |   16
1987 ...|        458 |        662 |        729 |     33 |      24 |      15 |     10 |   18
1988 ...|        421 |        617 |        701 |     36 |      23 |      14 |     10 |   17
1989 ...|        364 |        554 |        645 |     36 |      24 |      13 |     10 |   16
1990 ...|        419 |        628 |        727 |     35 |      25 |      14 |     10 |   17
        |            |            |            |        |         |         |        |
1991 ...|        471 |        672 |        770 |     33 |      27 |      14 |     10 |   17
1992 ...|        465 |        653 |        754 |     32 |      28 |      13 |     11 |   16
1993 ...|        476 |        652 |        757 |     33 |      27 |      14 |     11 |   16
1994 ...|        499 |        684 |        793 |     34 |      26 |      13 |     10 |   16
1995 ...|        513 |        698 |        803 |     37 |      25 |      13 |     10 |   15
1996 ...|        514 |        733 |        842 |     40 |      25 |      13 |      9 |   15
1997 ...|        471 |        697 |        802 |     41 |      25 |      12 |      8 |   14
1998 ...|        496 |        693 |        796 |     43 |      25 |      11 |      8 |   14
________|____________|____________|____________|________|_________|_________|________|______

\1\Number of people receiving high school equivalency credentials based on the GED tests.
\2\Number of people completing the entire GED battery of five tests.
\3\Number of people taking the GED tests (one or more subtests).
---Data not available.

NOTE.--Because of rounding, percentages may not add to 100. Some data have been revised from previously published figures.

SOURCE: American Council on Education, General Educational Development Testing Service. Who took the GED? Statistical Report, various years. (This table was prepared August 1999.)


1999 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest