MS> MS>Studies show that the GED gets its holders no higher pay.
MS>  
MS> I'm curious as to your source for this data.  I spent 5- or 6-years 
MS>  adult ed.  Many of the students were up for on-the-job promotions b
MS> being held up for lack of a diploma.  For a number of them, passing 
MS> test meant not only a raise in pay but a new job or job-title as wel
MS> be amazed if this didn't hold for a significant number of those retu
MS> for the degree.
 
Hi Matt,
 
  I saw Chuck's response to you above and felt compelled to add my two 
cents worth ;)  I have been working with a Tri-Chamber committee (Fargo
ND, West Fargo ND and Moorhead MN Chambers of Commerce) on education, 
I've been a part on the Work Force Development committee.  Part of our 
mission is to demonstrate to the youth in the Tri-Chamber metro area 
the variety of job opportunities available to them and what the 
differing educational requirements and employer expectations are.  We 
administered a survey to metro businesses which identified several 
elements to us, some of the more interesting tidbits of data (for our 
metro area) was 1) the number of decent paying jobs available to those 
with a GED/HS diploma and 2) the difference in both the quantity and 
type of jobs available to those with less than a GED/HS diploma.
 
  I really don't want to diverge and discuss the finer points of 
statistics in regards to how the survey was developed and administered. 
I simply wanted to point out that it was a significant difference in 
both the number of jobs and the base starting hourly wage -- enough to 
make you look twice.  The other facinating (but understandable) bit of 
info from the survey was the emphasis of the "soft skills" by 
employers; they want employees who can show up for work on time, are 
honest, can work with others, present a clean and neat appearance etc.
(Hehehe I put these in my "kinder" skills - color within' the lines, 
share toys, play well with others...)  ;)  
 
  Anyway...in our community at least, a GED is a better thing than no 
GED, it can easily add a few dollars per hour to your starting hourly 
wage depending on the place where you work.  In all cases starting pay 
for jobs where GEDs were a rqmt, were higher than those that required 
less.  And to no suprise to many, employers still value things like 
honesty, integrity, punctuality, etc very high...in many cases higher 
than a particular technical ability (they contend they can teach an 
employee the technical stuff once on the job).  Bear in mind this only 
reflects entry level positions filled in the last year in our metro 
area -- we had a total of 243 complete responses (if I remember 
correctly, we had about 16-20% return rate from area businesses on the 
survey)
 
Dale
 
                      Have a Safe and Happy New Year
--- TriDog 10.0
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