This digest analyzes information from two recently completed national surveys to determine the extent to which various vocational education programs improve employment opportunities in the United States. The impact of a General Educational Development (GED) certificate on workers' wages is also analyzed. Data are from the 1992 National Adult Literacy Survey (NALS) and the 1991 Workplace Literacy Assessment Survey. NALS sampled 14,900 persons aged 16 and older, with oversampling of African Americans and Hispanic Americans. The Workplace Literacy survey profiled and assessed approximately 8,000 persons enrolled in Job Training Partnership Act programs. Graduates of high schools with a vocational focus generally earn substantially less than persons who attend high schools with a college preparatory or general academic focus. The lower earnings of these graduates have a disproportionate effect on the earning of minority populations, since minorities are overrepresented in vocational education. Survey results indicate that dropouts who obtain a GED generally have higher wages than dropouts who do not. (Contains 4 references.) (SLD)