Why Some Teens Get Both a GED and a High School Diploma: A High School Counselor’s Perspective
Last month, I was shoving my lesson plans into my canvas bag 10 minutes after the final bell, when Mia knocked on my counselor office door. The hallway outside smelled like burnt microwave popcorn and the lemon wax the custodian uses on the gym floors, and Mia was twisting a crumpled piece of paper in her hands, her scuffed white Vans tapping the linoleum. She’d been my student for a year and a half, ever since her anxiety got so bad her sophomore year she transferred from the main campus to our small alternative evening program. She slid the paper across my desk: it was a GED registration confirmation, and scribbled in the margin was her question: Can I still get my high school diploma too?
After her parents split freshman year, Mia started having panic attacks before first period. Some months she missed more days than she attended, and by the start of junior year she was 11 credits short of graduation. The default options for kids in her spot were either stretch high school out for two extra years, or leave and get a GED. Mia didn’t want either. She’d worked with her therapist to get her panic attacks under control, she only missed one or two days a month now, and she wanted to walk at graduation with the friends she’d known since middle school. But the community college nursing program she wanted to start accepts GED students the summer before they would otherwise graduate, which would let her finish her associate’s degree a full year earlier. Choosing one meant giving up something she cared about, so she asked if she could have both.
I didn’t know the answer off the top of my head. I’d never had a kid ask for this explicitly in my 12 years as a counselor, so I checked with the district registrar. Turns out our district updated the policy three years ago, most people just don’t talk about it. It’s fully allowed: as long as you remain enrolled in high school and meet all graduation requirements, you can earn your GED and still walk away with a traditional diploma. We mapped out a timeline together. Mia was already taking online credit recovery classes for her diploma through our district, so she added just 45 minutes a day of GED prep using the free study app the public library offers for cardholders.
Her mom initially thought it was too much extra work, that it would just trigger Mia’s stress and set her back. They sat down at their kitchen table with a calendar and went through every step: the GED test was on a Saturday in October, she’d get all results back by November, and she wouldn’t have to add any extra work after that beyond the credit recovery she was already doing. Her mom agreed to pick her up a chocolate chip cookie after her evening class and quiz her on GED practice questions once a week on the drive home—no nagging, just casual help. It fit into their routine without upending it.
Last week, she got her scores back. She passed all four sections with room to spare, and she’s already registered for her first nursing prerequisite this summer. She’s still on track to graduate with her high school diploma next May.
I get asked all the time by parents and new teachers why a kid would do this, if it’s a waste of time or a red flag for colleges or employers. The truth is, it’s almost never a waste, and it’s almost never a red flag. Most people still think of the GED as a consolation prize for kids who drop out, but these days, getting both is usually a strategic choice, not a failure of the traditional path. I’ve had four kids in the last three years go this route, for all kinds of reasons: one wanted to start a construction apprenticeship at 17, which required a GED, but still wanted to finish his senior year and play varsity baseball. Another unschooled through high school and wanted both credentials to apply for an art program that preferred a diploma but accepted GEDs, so she covered both bases.
If your kid brings this up, there are a few concrete things you can do that don’t require a lot of extra work or money. First, don’t write it off as unnecessary right off the bat. Ask them what their specific goal is, then check your district’s policy. A lot of districts have updated their rules in the last five years to allow this, but most don’t advertise it. Don’t take the first “no” from a front office admin—ask to speak to the registrar or a district curriculum coordinator, they’ll know the fine print. Second, use free resources first. You don’t need to pay $200 for a GED prep class. Every public library I’ve ever worked with has free practice tests, free online courses, and even free study books you can check out. Most high schools also offer free after-school GED prep for enrolled students. Third, if you’re worried about how it will look to colleges or employers, reach out directly to the program your kid is targeting. I’ve yet to talk to an admissions officer who cared that a kid had both—they just care that the kid meets their requirements. Most employers don’t care either; if anything, having both shows you followed through on what you set out to do.
I ran into Mia at the grocery store a couple of days ago. She was pushing a cart full of cereal and laundry detergent, her little brother hanging off the side grabbing candy from the checkout display. She pulled her phone out of her pocket to show me her GED score, the paper clipped to the back of her phone case next to a photo of her and her friends from homecoming. I asked her if all the extra late nights studying were worth it. She shrugged, and grabbed a bag of her favorite chips off the shelf before answering. “It’s what I wanted. Why would I pick one when I can do both?”
There’s still a lot about education systems that pushes kids into one box or another: you’re a traditional student or you’re a GED student, there’s no middle ground. A lot of people still side-eye this choice, like it’s some kind of cheat. Right now, though, Mia gets to start her nursing program a year early and walk across the graduation stage with her friends next spring. It’s not the path I would have planned for her when she first walked into my office two years ago, but it’s working for her. We don’t know what’ll happen after that, but that’s true of any high school senior, isn’t it?
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