More than 300,000 adults in Arkansas never finished high school. Each one represents unrealized potential in our communities--people working hard to provide for their families, but too often locked out of higher-paying jobs and training programs.

Many of these Arkansans left school because life got in the way: teen pregnancy, financial strain, unstable home environments, frequent moves or legal trouble. Some have tried to earn a GED but found the process too difficult. Roughly half of the students who walk through the doors of Goodwill Industries of Arkansas' Excel Center have already tried and failed the GED exam, some multiple times.

That's not for lack of effort. The typical Excel Center student reads at a fourth- to sixth-grade level, while GED success requires a ninth- to 12th-grade

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