CPE Study: Late Grads Succeed

More Often than GEDs

By David Cyprian

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A new study from The Center for Public Education (CPE) found that persons who graduate high school in more than four years are somewhat healthier and more successful than those who dropout or earn a GED. The study also found that on-time high school graduation correlated most strongly with post-high school success.

CPE studied the high school class of 1992 more than 15 years later to see trends in academic, health, and career success, classified into four groups: On-time graduates (comprising 78.3% of the total), late graduates (4.6%), GED recipients (7.7%), and dropouts (9.4%). The study found that, “In every aspect of life - not just academic, but work, civic life, and even health on-time graduates had the best outcomes… But the extra work that late graduates and their high schools put into earning a diploma pays off.”

Although both late graduates and GED recipients enrolled in college at similar rates (59% and 51% respectively), late graduates were four times as likely to earn an associates or bachelors degree (12% vs. 3%). Late graduates were also more likely to be employed (85%) compared with GED recipients (77%) and dropouts (81%). Late graduates were also more likely to be non-smokers and regular exercisers than GED recipients or dropouts.

CPE made several recommendations for school board members to support at-risk youth on the path to graduation, even if the process takes longer than four years:

• All students should take an academic math course in ninth grade.

• Identify possible dropouts in the middle-level grades and establish effective dropout programs.

• Provide support services for low-achieving high school students to develop traits including thinking ahead, persistence, and adapting to environment.

The Center for Public Education is a national resource for information related to public education, and is funded in part by the National School Boards Association. For more information on this study and other CPE research, visit: