More passing GED tests

High jobless rate could be contributing to high rate of residents taking GED test.

The increase in the number of South Carolinians earning high school equivalency degrees is good news for the state. It also is one indicator that the state dropout rate ultimately is not as grim as many once thought.

South Carolina's passing rate for students taking a General Educational Development test — or GED — reached an all time high last year of 73.1 percent, matching for the first time the national average and ranking the state 27th nationally. The success rate is up 4.3 percentage points from 2007.

The downturn in the economy may be a significant factor compelling more South Carolinians to take the test. As workers lose nonskilled jobs, they need to get at least high school credentials to find another one.

In South Carolina, only students who have dropped out of school can take GED exams. Last year, of the 9,200 residents who took GED tests, 44 percent were 17 to 19 years old, while an additional 25 percent were 20 to 24 years old.

In other words, many students who dropped out of school at the legal age of 17 wasted little time in getting their high school equivalency credentials. Clearly, it didn't take them long to realize that prospects without at least a high school education were minimal.

South Carolina has worked in recent years to make it easier to take the GED exam. While the state once offered the tests on Saturdays only, it now offers them on weekdays as well.

The state also is opening five permanent test centers, one of them in Rock Hill, by January to increase access for those who want to take the tests. S.C. Superintendent Jim Rex said the goal is that no resident will be more than 30 minutes from a test center.

That is a farsighted approach. Increasing the education levels of residents not only helps individuals but also the communities they live in and the state as a whole.