Digest of Education Statistics: 2006
Digest of Education Statistics: 2006

NCES 2007-017
July 2007

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Table 103. General Educational Development (GED) test takers and credentials issued, by age: 1971 through 2004 
Year Number of
test takers
(in thousands)1 		 Number completing test battery
(in thousands)2 		 Number
passing tests
(in thousands)3 		 Percentage distribution of credentials issued,4  by age
19 years old or less 20- to 24-year-olds 25- to 29-year-olds 30- to 34-year-olds 35 years old or over
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
19715  377 — 227 — — — — —
19725  419 — 245 — — — — —
19735  423 — 249 — — — — —
1974 — — 294 35 27 13 9 17
1975 — — 340 33 26 14 9 18
                 
1976 — — 333 31 28 14 10 17
1977 — — 332 40 24 13 8 14
1978 — — 381 31 27 13 10 18
1979 — — 426 37 28 12 13 11
1980 — — 479 37 27 13 8 15
                 
1981 — — 489 37 27 13 8 14
1982 — — 486 37 28 13 8 15
1983 — — 465 34 29 14 8 15
1984 — — 427 32 28 15 9 16
1985 — — 413 32 26 15 10 16
                 
1986 — — 428 32 26 15 10 17
1987 — — 444 33 24 15 10 18
1988 — — 410 35 22 14 10 18
1989 632 541 357 35 24 13 — —
1990 714 615 410 36 25 13 10 15
                 
1991 755 657 462 33 28 13 10 16
1992 739 639 457 33 28 13 9 17
1993 746 651 469 33 27 13 10 16
1994 774 668 491 36 25 13 9 15
1995 787 682 504 38 25 13 9 15
                 
1996 824 716 488 39 25 13 9 14
1997 785 681 460 43 24 12 8 13
1998 776 673 481 44 24 11 7 13
1999 808 702 498 44 25 11 7 13
2000 811 699 487 45 25 11 7 13
                 
2001 1,016 928 648 41 26 11 8 14
2002 557 467 330 49 25 10 6 11
2003 657 552 387 47 26 10 7 11
2004 666 570 406 46 26 11 6 10
—Not available.
1 Number of people taking the GED tests (one or more subtests).
2 Number of people completing the entire GED battery of five tests.
3 Number of people receiving high school equivalency credentials based on the GED tests.
4 People who did not report their age were excluded from this calculation. Data for 1988 and prior years are for number of test takers and may not be comparable to data for later years.
5 Includes other jurisdictions.
NOTE: Data are for United States only and exclude other jurisdictions. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. 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; Who Passed the GED Tests? 2004 Statistical Report, July 2006. (This table was prepared July 2006.)

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