Today, one in twenty college freshman holds a high school credential earned by taking and passing the General Educational Development (GED) Tests.  How can admissions officials evaluate these nontraditional applicants?

                Nearly all of the colleges and universities in the United States have published policies to admit students without a traditional high school diploma.  However, unlike traditional high school graduates, GED credential holders face the challenge of documenting their academic ability in the traditional manner.

             These nontraditional candidates have demonstrated academic skills in the core content areas of language arts, social studies, science, and mathematics.  In fact, those who pass the GED Tests have surpassed the performance of at least 40 percent of the nation’s graduating high school seniors.  The American Council on Education’s Center for Adult Learning and Educational Credentials recommends that persons who earn their jurisdiction’s high school credential by taking and passing the GED Tests should be accepted as high school graduates for the purposes of college admission.

About the GED Tests

            There are five tests in the GED Test battery: Language Arts-Writing; Social Studies; Science; Language Arts-Reading; and Mathematics.  The tests take more than seven hours to complete and include a direct writing assessment.  To ensure that the content and skills measured by the tests remain closely matched to contemporary high school curriculum, the tests undergo regular review and revision.[1]  Test results are expressed as standard scores ranging from 200 to 800.  States award a high school credential to individuals who earn at least 410 on each test and an average standard score of 450 or better across all five tests. [2]

College Admissions

            Percentile ranks can be interpreted as ranks in the national graduating class of high school seniors.  The American Council on Education makes the following recommendations concerning GED graduates:

• If applicants are routinely asked to submit admissions test scores (e.g., ACT or SAT), GED graduates should be required to do the same.  Institutions should not substitute GED Test scores for admissions test scores.
• If a minimum class rank is normally required for admission, the information in the accompanying table can be used to estimate the U.S. national class rank from GED standard scores.  For example, if the institution generally admits traditional students graduating in the upper half of their classes, it should require GED graduates to present average standard scores of at least 500.  In such cases, the candidate may retest to earn the required GED Test scores or provide data from other academic achievement tests.

• If merit scholarships are offered to seniors graduating in the top ten percent of their classes, similar awards should be made to GED graduates with average standard scores of 610 or better.

Interpreting GED Test Scores

      GED standard scores are normalized scores based on a nationally representative stratified random sample of high school seniors tested in the spring of their graduating year.  Only seniors who are expected to meet the academic requirements for graduation are included in the sample.  Separate normings are performed for the United States and Canada; scores are restandardized only when the norm group shows significant changes.  The standard scores currently reported are based on a 2001 standardization study.

   The resulting standard scores and percentile ranks can be used to describe the skills of adults who take the GED Tests compared to the performance of contemporary high school seniors.  GED standard scores have the following properties:

• The median standard score for U.S. graduating high school seniors is 500 for each of the five tests.
• The standard deviation is 100 points for U.S. graduating high school seniors.
• The percentage of graduating seniors at or below each GED standard score value is the same for each of the five tests.

 

GED Standard Score and Estimated National Class Rank (U.S.) of Graduating High School Seniors
GED Standard Score	Estimated National Class Rank
700	Top 1%
670	Top 2%
660	Top 3%
640	Top 5%
610	Top 10%
580	Top 15%
570	Top 20%
550	Top 25%
530	Top 33%
520	Top 40%
500	Top 50%
460	Top 55%
450	Top 60%

This information is from a free informational brochure published by the American Council on Education’s GED Testing Service. Copies of the brochure (Item No. 2510260) are available by contacting the GED Fulfillment Service, Department 191, Washington, DC 20055 or (301) 632-6758. Shipping and handling charges apply to all orders. Additional brochure information can be found on the GED Testing Service’s web site at www.gedtest.org