The General Educational Development (GED) testing program is frequently used to earn a high school diploma, since about 14 percent of diplomas issued in this country during 1981 were based on the GED tests. A study was conducted to assess the impact that passing the GED tests has on adults' employment and participation in educational activities. During April and May of 1980, the GED Testing Service collected data on a nationally representative sample of 12,646 GED candidates. Approximately 75 percent of this sample agreed to participate in a follow-up study. In October 1981, a 20 percent random sample of this group (N=1906) were surveyed with a response rate of 24 percent (N=458). Results indicated that 71 percent of the respondents passed the test in April or May of 1980 with an additional 15 percent passing during the 18 months prior to the follow-up survey. The GED candidates were extremely positive about their GED experience, since 95 percent would probably take the tests again if they were starting over. More people expected the GED to help them achieve a new job (75 percent) than improve their situation (e.g., salary increase) in their current job (about 30 percent). In fact, the GED credential was more helpful to these people in obtaining a new job (52 percent) than in improving their situation in their current job (about 20 percent). More people expected the GED credential to help in attaining admittance to educational institutions (51 percent) than to on-the-job training (24 percent). During the 18 months following the initial survey, 45 percent of the respondents were students in some type of educational program. More than 75 percent plan to attend an educational program in the future. The survey instrument is appended. (Author/KC)