General Educational Development (GED) credentials issued, and number and age of test takers: United States and outlying areas, 1971 to 1999

Table 104.

_______________________________________________________________________
      | Number of |Number com- |Number of|Percent distribution of test
      |credentials|pleting test|  test   |    takers, by age
 Year |  issued,  |  battery,  | takers, |_____________________________
      | in thou-  |  in thou-  |in thou- |19 or|20 to|25 to|30 to|35 or
      | sands\1\  |  sands\2\  |sands\3\ |less | 24  | 29  | 34  |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
1999 .|       516 |        723 |     831 |  43 |  25 |  11 |   8 |  14
______|___________|____________|_________|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____

---Not Available.
\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).

NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals due to rounding.

SOURCE: American Council on Education, General Educational Development Testing Service, Who took the GED? Statistical Report, various years. (This table was prepared September 2000.)

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