Formal schooling completed at a level of 12th grade and above (in any country). Accept high school equivalent education, such as
passing General Educational Development (GED) exam, High School Equivalency Test (HiSET),
or Test Assessing Secondary Completion (TASC), as a high school education.
NOTE 1: If a claimant has education equivalent to high school from another country, use
High School Education and Above category.
NOTE 2: Generally, we use the highest level of formal education that a claimant completed
to determine the claimant's education category, which takes into consideration abilities
in reasoning, arithmetic, and language. If there is a question about a claimant's
language ability, use the language in which the claimant most effectively communicates.
For most claimants, this language would be the language that they use every day in
most situations, including at home, work, school, and in the community.
IMPORTANT: For a claimant who completed high school or more, we consider, as appropriate, whether
the claimant recently completed education that prepared him or her to do a specific
skilled or semi-skilled work. See below, DI 25015.010F Education that Provides for Direct Entry into Skilled or Semi-skilled Work, for detailed
guidance.