Table 219.60.

Number of people taking the general educational development (GED) test and percentage distribution of those who passed, by age group: 1971 through 2013

Year	Number of test takers (in thousands)			Percent passing tests4	Percentage distribution of test passers, by age group1
	Total2	Completing test battery3	Passing tests4		16 to 18 years old		19 to 24 years old		25 to 29 years old	30 to 34 years old	35 years old or over
1	2	3	4	5	6		7		8	9	10
19715	377	—	227	—	—		—		—	—	—
19725	419	—	245	—	—		—		—	—	—
19735	423	—	249	—	—		—		—	—	—
1974	—	—	294	—	35	6	27	6	13	9	17
1975	—	—	340	—	33	6	26	6	14	9	18
1976	—	—	333	—	31	6	28	6	14	10	17
1977	—	—	330	—	40	6	24	6	13	8	14
1978	—	—	381	—	31	6	27	6	13	10	18
1979	—	—	426	—	37	6	28	6	12	13	11
1980	—	—	479	—	37	6	27	6	13	8	15
1981	—	—	489	—	37	6	27	6	13	8	14
1982	—	—	486	—	37	6	28	6	13	8	15
1983	—	—	465	—	34	6	29	6	14	8	15
1984	—	—	427	—	32	6	28	6	15	9	16
1985	—	—	413	—	32	6	26	6	15	10	16
1986	—	—	428	—	32	6	26	6	15	10	17
1987	—	—	444	—	33	6	24	6	15	10	18
1988	—	—	410	—	35	6	22	6	14	10	18
1989	632	541	357	66.0	22		37		13	—	—
1990	714	615	410	66.7	22		39		13	10	15
1991	755	657	462	70.3	20		40		13	10	16
1992	739	639	457	71.5	22		39		13	9	17
1993	746	651	469	72.0	22		38		13	10	16
1994	774	668	491	73.5	25		37		13	10	15
1995	787	682	504	74.0	27		36		13	9	15
1996	824	716	488	68.2	27		37		13	9	14
1997	785	681	460	67.5	31		36		12	8	13
1998	776	673	481	71.5	32		36		11	7	13
1999	808	702	498	70.9	32		37		11	7	13
2000	811	699	487	69.7	33		37		11	7	13
20017	1,016	928	648	69.9	29		38		11	8	14
20027	557	467	330	70.7	38		36		10	6	11
2003	657	552	387	70.1	35		37		10	7	11
2004	666	570	406	71.2	35		38		11	6	10
2005	681	588	424	72.1	34		37		12	7	11
2006	676	580	398	68.7	35		36		12	6	11
2007	692	600	429	71.5	35		35		12	7	11
2008	737	642	469	73.1	34		35		13	7	11
2009	748	645	448	69.4	31		36		13	8	12
2010	720	623	452	72.6	27		37		14	9	14
2011	691	602	434	72.2	27		37		13	9	14
2012	674	581	401	69.1	26		37		14	9	13
2013	816	714	541	75.7	22		35		15	11	17

—Not available.

1 Age data for 1988 and prior years are for all test takers and may not be comparable to data for later years. For 1989 and later years, age data are only for test passers. The less than 1 percent of people who failed to report their date of birth--2,948 of the 540,535 test passers in 2013--were excluded from the calculation.

2 All people taking the GED tests (one or more subtests).

3 People completing the entire GED battery of five tests.

4 Data for 2002 and later years are for people passing the GED tests (i.e., earning both a passing total score on the test battery and a passing score on each individual test). Data for 2001 and prior years are for high school equivalency credentials issued by the states to GED test passers. In order to receive high school equivalency credentials in some states, GED test passers must meet additional state requirements (e.g., complete an approved course in civics or government).

5 Includes other jurisdictions, such as Puerto Rico, Guam, and American Samoa.

6 For 1988 and prior years, 19-year-olds are included with the 16- to 18-year-olds instead of the 19- to 24-year-olds.

7 A revised GED test was introduced in 2002. In 2001, test takers were required to successfully complete all five components of the GED or else begin the five-part series again with the new test that was introduced in 2002.

NOTE: Data are for the United States only and exclude other jurisdictions, except where noted. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.

SOURCE: American Council on Education, General Educational Development Testing Service, the GED annual Statistical Report, 1971 through 1992; Who Took the GED? 1993 through 2001; Who Passed the GED Tests? 2002 through 2005; and GED Testing Program Statistical Report, 2006 through 2013, retrieved November 5, 2014, from http://www.gedtestingservice.com/educators/historical-testing-data. (This table was prepared November 2014.)