The number of students who transferred from a regular high school program to a GED program, as a percentage of their cohort. A GED program prepares students for the tests required to earn the General Educational Development credential, which certifies that a student has demonstrated a level of knowledge equal to or greater than 40% of graduating high school seniors. The cohort is the class of ninth-graders beginning high school together.
A GED offers students who did not make it through high school a credential allowing them to pursue higher education and certain careers. While these figures do not show the number of students actually obtaining GEDs, they indicate how many students were pursuing this alternative path out of high school toward a productive future.
Very small proportions of students have been leaving high school to pursue GEDs. About 0.5% of students in the class of 2025 had transferred to GED programs by the time their class graduated, the same as the state rate (excluding NYC). The region's rate has fallen 0.7 percentage points since 2009. Columbia, Greene and Orange had the lowest proportion of students pursuing GEDs in the region, at 0%. Putnam and Sullivan had the highest proportion of students pursuing GEDs (1.3% and 1%, respectively). No school districts had more than 8 students pursue a GED in 2025.
Data for earlier years were not comparable because cohorts were not tracked in the same way.
| 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region | 1% | 1% | 2% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 1% | 0% | 1% | ||
| Columbia | 1% | 2% | 3% | 1% | 2% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 0% | 1% | 0% | 0% | ||
| Dutchess | 1% | 1% | 2% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 1% | 0% | 1% | ||
| Greene | 2% | 2% | 5% | 5% | 3% | 2% | 1% | 1% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 1% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | ||
| Orange | 1% | 1% | 1% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | ||
| Putnam | 1% | 1% | 2% | 2% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 0% | 1% | 1% | 0% | 1% | ||
| Sullivan | 3% | 3% | 2% | 1% | 1% | 2% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 0% | 0% | 1% | 2% | 1% | 1% | ||
| Ulster | 1% | 2% | 2% | 2% | 2% | 2% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 0% | 1% | 0% | 1% | 1% | 1% | ||
| NYS (excluding NYC) | 2% | 2% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 1% | 1% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | ||
| Columbia School Districts | |||||||||||||||||||
| Dutchess School Districts | |||||||||||||||||||
| Greene School Districts | |||||||||||||||||||
| Orange School Districts | |||||||||||||||||||
| Putnam School Districts | |||||||||||||||||||
| Sullivan Villages | |||||||||||||||||||
| Ulster School Districts | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region | 196 | 204 | 243 | 194 | 148 | 103 | 85 | 62 | 52 | 59 | 65 | 57 | 44 | 42 | 64 | 40 | 66 | ||
| Columbia | 11 | 14 | 24 | 10 | 12 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 1 | ||
| Dutchess | 52 | 33 | 61 | 34 | 34 | 20 | 12 | 11 | 8 | 13 | 15 | 10 | 12 | 11 | 21 | 15 | 18 | ||
| Greene | 16 | 11 | 35 | 31 | 16 | 12 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | ||
| Orange | 42 | 44 | 37 | 26 | 16 | 10 | 14 | 8 | 11 | 4 | 16 | 12 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 6 | ||
| Putnam | 9 | 20 | 26 | 27 | 16 | 8 | 17 | 8 | 9 | 12 | 10 | 15 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 15 | ||
| Sullivan | 30 | 25 | 15 | 13 | 7 | 13 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 13 | 6 | 8 | ||
| Ulster | 36 | 57 | 45 | 53 | 47 | 36 | 25 | 18 | 14 | 14 | 10 | 8 | 13 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 17 | ||
| NYS (excluding NYC) | 2,237 | 2,291 | 1,867 | 1,468 | 1,149 | 950 | 829 | 661 | 612 | 659 | 727 | 689 | 621 | 569 | 561 | 572 | 652 | ||
| Columbia School Districts | |||||||||||||||||||
| Dutchess School Districts | |||||||||||||||||||
| Greene School Districts | |||||||||||||||||||
| Orange School Districts | |||||||||||||||||||
| Putnam School Districts | |||||||||||||||||||
| Sullivan Villages | |||||||||||||||||||
| Ulster School Districts | |||||||||||||||||||
| INDICATORS | TREND | STATE |
|---|---|
| Preschoolers Receiving Special Education Services | Increasing |
| Prekindergarten Participation | Decreasing |
| Students Receiving Special Education Services | Increasing |
| Per-Student Spending | Maintaining |
| Student Performance on Grade 4 English, by Student Group | Increasing |
| Student Performance on Grade 4 English, by Race/Ethnicity | Increasing |
| Student Performance on Grade 4 Math, by Student Group | Increasing |
| Student Performance on Grade 4 Math, by Race/Ethnicity | Increasing |
| High School Cohort Graduation Rate | Increasing |
| High School Cohort Dropout Rate | Decreasing |
| High School GED Rate | Maintaining |
| Education Levels of Adults | Increasing |
| Education Levels of Adults, by Race/Ethnicity | Increasing |
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