Manuel Said:

Why has the value of high school and college diplomas gone down?

We Answered:

I think your time is a little off - I usually point out to my students that their grandparents may have been reasonably successful with a high school diploma or associates degree, and that was 50 years, not 10 years, ago.

It is really a matter of supply and demand. As more and more people have gotten bachelors degrees in this country, having less has become less acceptable. Everyone has become more educated than they were a few generations ago, so in order to stand out these days, what you need is not just a bachelors degree, but at least a masters.

As to the standards having gone up, your experience with your little brother and his friends may be the exception. I still have some papers from classes I taught 20 or more years ago, and the papers I got from my undergraduate students then are so much better than the ones I get from my graduate students now, it isn't even funny! I have two nephews at terrific schools who are learning amazing things, but on a regular basis I talk to students who never learned the most basic materials at their schools. I'm afraid that what has happened is that there is a wider range of learning now than there used to be; some are learning very sophisticated things (I had one kid in my freshman orientation group today who took advanced calculus as a high school junior), while others aren't learning anything much at all.

Susan Said:

Are there any online high school diplomas accepted by the US Army to enlist?

We Answered:

There is nothing wrong with a GED. After getting my GED, I graduated from a good school and got my Master's from a top ranked university. Every school in the US recognizes a GED as being equal to a high school diploma. I recommend just getting your GED and going in the Army. GED, the GED is fast and cheaper than trying to get a diploma online which may turn out not to be recognize by the Army or Colleges. High School diploma nobody really cares once you are in the Army you are in. You are putting too much thought into it. Good luck.

Mildred Said:

Can you earn two high school diplomas in different countries?

We Answered:

Are you doing an exchange? It's extremely unlikely you will receive a diploma or even any sort of formal grades. I do know a Turkish girl who graduated in Canada while on her exchange, but she spoke fluent English and managed to fill all requirements. This means that she does not have a high school diploma from her school in Turkey. She now attends an art school in Canada. Most schools will not allow exchange students to graduate, even if they speak the language fluently and do the work, so she was one of a very rare and lucky few. Most kids just go home and have to repeat their year abroad, or, if they graduated before leaving, basically just do an extra year of high school for which they receive no marks or credit. They may be allowed to take part in graduation and other stuff, but it is normally just for fun.

If you are moving to Japan, that is different and I wouldn't know.

Judy Said:

Bachelors degrees are the new high school diplomas?

We Answered:

I wouldn't go so far as to declare that statement true; different jobs require different skills; if you're looking for a career in a trade (e.g., electrical contracting, construction, carpentry), a bachelor's won't help you any more than a GED, at least not in the trade itself; you start as an apprentice, and work your way up. Even in an administrative job market, my (educated) guess is that experience is the ultimate deciding factor in the hiring process. That is, a GED-level person with 15+ years experience as an administrative assistant will most likely get the job when set against a fresh-from-college graduate with no experience. Because the job market is saturated with newly unemployed experienced workers who would not, in a stable economy, be unemployed, entry-level candidates are one of the two demographics struggling the most in our current economy (the other is the 50+ population), and thus a bachelor's degree may *seem* to be useless given the more experienced "competition" (such an ugly word; job seekers should be uniting and networking, not viewing each other as challengers and threats). Indeed, I felt that way in my arduous job search, and I read many stories from other new graduates expressing the same sentiment.

Harry Said:

what are the high school diplomas in the UK?

We Answered:

The usual school leaving qualifications are GCSE and A-levels. GCSEs (General Certificate of Secondary Education) are taken at age 16, and A-levels (Advanced Levels) at age 18.

If you are at high school/secondary school, you will study for your GCSEs between the ages of 14 and 16. And your A-levels after that from 16-18.

High school in the UK is between the ages of 12 and 16. Then it is called sixth-form between the ages of 16-18. If you choose to stay at school, you can either go to a sixth-form college or stay on at the sixth-form department of your school.