
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, May 4, 1995                   TAG: 9505040107
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: CAMBRIDGE, MASS.                                LENGTH: Short

GED HARDLY A PANACEA

Dropouts who take the high school equivalency test earn barely 4 percent more than those who don't - and only if they use their substitute diploma to go on to further education, according to a study.

The average recipient of a general equivalency diploma earns $7.43 an hour nine years after getting the certificate. High school dropouts who do not receive a GED make $7.02. The difference is about 6 percent, but because GED recipients work slightly fewer hours while participating in training programs or looking for work, their total income is just 4 percent more than other dropouts'.

``Is it worth paying $30 and sitting for this exam? The answer is yes,'' said Richard Murnane, an economics professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the study's co-author. ``But is this a useful strategy for getting low-income people out of poverty? The answer is no.''

A million young Americans a year drop out of high school without receiving diplomas. An increasing number of them take the test called the General Educational Development exam. Nearly 800,000 people took the GED in 1993, up from 734,000 in 1988.

``Out in the world, you need either a high school diploma or some further education,'' said 18-year-old Hector Hernandez, who dropped out of school when he was a junior but wants to get a degree in computer programming.

``I need to at least have a GED,'' said Hernandez, who works in a warehouse while he prepares to take the test this month.

by CNB