A multidimensional follow-up study of three categories of Florida high school graduates focused on early exit General Educational Development (GED), second chance GED, and conventional graduates. The research provided the first comprehensive overview of the demography, educational experiences, aspirations and post-graduation activities of both GED and conventional graduates and evaluated the difference between normal and GED graduates and between early exit and second chance GED graduates. Telephone interviews were used to collect data from 1,509 graduates (97 percent response). Findings indicated that second chance graduates did less well academically than the others. Motivations for dropping out of high school for GED graduates were career acceleration, academic frustration, problems with school, and personal and family problems. Both groups of GED graduates felt more pressure to stay in school than drop out. Data on preparation methods clearly showed the academic strength and self-motivation of the early exiters. The conventional graduate group did not show an employability advantage over the GED graduates. The first-year occupational and educational profiles of the second chancers once they had passed the GED were all but indistinguishable from those of the early exiters. GED graduates had a lower overall aspiration level regarding both education and occupation. Implications for educational policy are considered. (YLB)