Your parents weren't wrong when they told you that you need an education in order to succeed. It's becoming increasingly hard to get anywhere in life as an employee if you do not have the appropriate credentials. Furthermore, careers are becoming increasingly niche, which means that they need very specific hard skills rather than soft skills which have become a requirement in various industries.
BestGEDClasses.org have recently done studies regarding GED statistics and the results are stunning. The article highlights how many working-class people do not have a high school certificate, which currently stands at 23,307,010 individuals, making up 11% of the entire population that makes up the United States.
The popularity of the GED by state
Steve Gory, the EdTech Strategist of Covcel says that the popularity of the GED test in Ohio "is unforeseen" as they do not have the same kind of numbers that Texas or Florida has, two states that also touts high numbers of GED searches generated on Google.
The top nineteen states that rank highest for GED searches are as follows:
- Texas - 132,000
- Florida - 131,000
- Ohio - 96,000
- California - 61,200
- Michigan - 46,800
- Georgia - 36,000
- New York - 34,800
- Illinois - 30,000
- Colorado - 28,000
- Indiana - 28,800
- Iowa - 28,800
- Missouri - 25,200
- Washington - 22,800
- Arizona - 21,600
- Maryland - 21,600
- Virginia - 18,000
- Alabama - 16,800
- Oregon - 16,800
- Louisiana - 15,600
As you can see, Texas and Florida, with their large populations, are at the top of the pack, while Colorado, Indiana, and Iowa are tied for 9th place at 28,000. Further down the list, Arizona and Maryland also share the same number of searches.
The Importance of GED
The significance of having a high school certificate equivalent is not lost on the current generation, but social media may have warped our younger generation's minds into thinking that you don't need a high school diploma in order to become a social media influencer. While that may be true, you will be placing a huge bet on yourself to make it in stardom, without offering yourself a way out if you were to be less successful than you imagined.
GED isn't just for high school dropouts
Alternatively, GED is also beneficial to refugees or immigrants who have made America their home who do not have the appropriate credentials in order to work in higher positions or are required by their job positions to obtain such results as a requirement.
Regardless of whether you are currently considering getting a GED or if you're in the process of sitting for your GEDs, it's definitely something worth having as it brings you copious amounts of benefits. Aside from building up your personal growth and enhancing your existing skills, it will also offer you the chance to make your way up the corporate ladder and give more weight to your position. It is, after all, easier to hire and promote someone who has qualifying credentials.