A study compared the educational performances and personal goal attainments of the Adult High School Diploma (AHS) and General Educational and Development Program (GED) graduates from the 1977 through 1979 classes at Southeastern Community College in Whiteville, North Carolina. A questionnaire, designed to elicit GED graduates' reasons for their program selections, was completed by 39 of the 161 GED graduates attending Southeastern Community College during the years mentioned. Data were collected for grade point averages, average number of quarter hours, and types of programs entered by GED and AHS graduates. Finally, the performance of the two types of GED graduates--nonstudy and pre-GED study groups--was compared. Data revealed a slight difference in the overall postsecondary performance of the AHS graduates as compared with the GED graduates. Students chose the GED equivalency program for personal satisfaction, a no-study time element, and the short-term convenience; therefore, the results did produce satisfaction for immediate personal needs. Responses to the GED graduate questionnaire imply that the increase of the popularity of GED testing relates to the growing social problems of low income, unemployment, and pressures to succeed immediately. (MN)