He then got his high school diploma in adult school and an associate's degree in human services.
The college degree now increasingly represents what the high school diploma did in 1950 or 1960.
Over a third of African American students do not graduate from high school on time with a regular high school diploma, and only four percent of African American high school graduates interested in college are college-ready across a range of subjects.
Still, in this economy, a high school diploma no longer guarantees a good job.
"The unemployment rates for unskilled workers without high school diplomas, or only a high school diploma, are the highest in the United States, " says Briggs.
Four studies in recent years identified modest declines, but a new one that looks separately at Americans lacking a high school diploma found disturbingly sharp drops in life expectancy for whites in this group.
At schools like P-Tech in Brooklyn, a collaboration between New York Public Schools, the City University of New York, and IBM, students will graduate with a high school diploma and an associate degree in computers or engineering.
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In an era when a high school diploma is no longer a guarantee of a good job, let's make college affordable for every qualified student. (Applause.) As I said at the State of the Union, no graduate should have to pay more than 10 percent of his or her income on student loans each year. (Applause.) We can see to it that they don't.
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But we also know that in the coming decades, a high school diploma is not going to be enough.
When most new jobs in America require more than a high school diploma, higher education -- whether at a four-year college, at a two-year program -- it can't be a luxury.
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According to a New York Times report from findings from one consumer group, auto insurance rates were 68% lower for a married woman with a college degree, a professional job and who owned a home, when compared to a single woman, with a high-school diploma who rented her home in a moderate income area.
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Not at a time when most new jobs in America will require more than a high school diploma.
The overall unemployment rate for young men aged 18-25 with nothing but a high-school diploma was 11.1% in the third quarter of last year.
However, we all know that in today's economy, a high school diploma is usually not enough to prepare students for the high-skill, high-paying jobs of the 21st century.
Now at schools like P-Tech in Brooklyn, a collaboration between New York Public Schools and City University of New York and IBM, students will graduate with a high school diploma and an associate's degree in computers or engineering.
Requirements: You'll need a high school diploma or associate degree, and a certification in massage therapy.
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The status dropout rate describes the number of persons in a particular age cohort who lack a high school diploma.
More than half of all black men without a high-school diploma go to prison at some time in their lives.
Now at schools like P-Tech in Brooklyn, a collaboration between New York Public Schools and City University of New York and IBM, students will graduate with a high-school diploma and an associate's degree in computers or engineering.
But the fact of the matter is, is that more than 60 percent of the jobs in the next decade will require more than a high school diploma -- more than 60 percent.
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We have fallen to 16th in the proportion of young people with a college degree, even though we know that 60 percent of new jobs in the coming decade will require more than a high school diploma.
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Most have the option of taking part in various programmes and activities including studies to earn a high school diploma.
In Cincinnati, Taft High School went from handing out only one diploma for every five students to graduating 95 percent of its seniors, and preparing them for careers in technology.
In the early twentieth century, you needed only a high-school diploma and a one-year medical degree to practice medicine.
Some other studies that focused on national data have highlighted steep declines in life expectancy for white women who never earned a high-school diploma.
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First, the definition of basic education in the United States has evolved to the point where a high school diploma is now seen as the minimal level of education required for entrance into the work force.
Armed with only a high-school diploma, Vermeer introduced the world's first large, round haybaler in 1971.
Employment is 3m higher for college graduates than in January of 2009, but 2m lower for those with only a high-school diploma.
Males between 25 and 34 years old who have a high-school diploma but no college degree had a 10.9% unemployment rate in November.
However, about a third of the 173, 000 young people in New York, who are out of school and work, lack a high school diploma.
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