'We Cannot Forget People Who Did Not Graduate From High School'
A community college in New York City offers GED classes tailored to specific careers—with great results.
LaGuardia Community College is a GED machine. At this urban school, near the Long Island Expressway in the New York City borough of Queens, the prep courses for the state's high school equivalency exam aren't just textbook reviews—they are professional-development classes. There is a course for would-be health workers, another for business students, and yet another for anyone interested in technology and engineering.
LaGuardia's free classes, funded by state, city, and foundation grants, have a months-long waiting list. Students willing to pay for courses (at about $3.50 per hour of instruction) can usually get a spot in the next scheduled class, although those fill up, too. Most students are black or Latino.
Gail Mellow, LaGuardia's president, says postsecondary educators who don't reach out to high school dropouts are ignoring many of the young people who most need their help. In big cities such as New York, almost 40 percent of students who enter high school don't finish. "To really educate the American populace," she says, "we cannot forget people who did not graduate from high school."
But a General Educational Development certificate alone won't suffice for people who want to make a decent wage. So, three years ago, LaGuardia began tailoring its GED-prep classes toward certain professions. Reading material for aspiring