Hispanic dropouts less likely to earn GEDs than blacks or whites, report finds

Hispanic high school dropouts are much less likely to earn General Educational Development credentials than their white or black counterparts, especially if they are immigrants, according to a report released Thursday by the Pew Hispanic Center.

The report, "Hispanics, High School Dropouts and the GED," found that only one in 10 Hispanic high school dropouts has a GED, compared with two in 10 African American dropouts and three in 10 white dropouts. Hispanics also have a much higher high school dropout rate: 41 percent of Hispanics 20 or older do not have high school diplomas, compared with 23 percent of blacks and 14 percent of whites.

One reason for the differences is that a large percentage of immigrant Hispanics often are unaware of the opportunity to earn a GED credential, said Richard Fry, a senior research associate at Pew and the report's author. Many Hispanic immigrants arrive in the United States as adults, having already dropped out of high school abroad, he said.

"High school dropouts, if they're foreign-born, it takes them a little while to learn about the GED," he said. "Some of them were never in U.S. schools at all. It takes them a while to learn about U.S. economic and educational opportunities."

Native-born Hispanics have a dropout and GED attainment rate similar to those of blacks, the report said.

Administered by the American Council on Education, the GED has standardized tests in five areas. Some states set additional requirements to pass it, such as civics tests. It is accepted by community colleges and the military in place of a high school diploma. Dropouts who earn it are much more likely to pursue postsecondary education and training than those without GEDs or other alternative credentials, according to the report.

Overall, people with high school diplomas earn more than those with GEDs, except, the report concluded, for one group: foreign-born Hispanic men with GEDs earn about 15 percent more than foreign-born men with high school diplomas. Fry said this could be because many come to the United States in their 20s and 30s and hold diplomas awarded abroad, which may be difficult for U.S. employers to interpret.

"It's not a credential they're familiar with, if they're seeing credentials from El Salvador or Guatemala or Honduras," he said. "But if they have a GED, they most likely didn't get the GED abroad, and [employers] are more familiar with what's involved in getting a GED."

The same pattern did not hold true for foreign-born women, whose earnings were similar -- and consistently lower than men's -- whether they had a GED or a high school diploma.

The rate of GED attainment rises the longer immigrants stay in the United States, Fry said.