I personally didn't quiiiite make it through the 8th grade, but I was smart/bored/troublemaker, aced the GED at 16, and went on to work.
The ONLY regret I have is that the military (all branches, although I first went to the Air Force in my early 20s) didn't want me because I hadn't finished high school. Not finishing high school does in fact say something about you, because MOST people will hang in there, and they want you to be like them. In hindsight, I wish I'd gone back at that point and "finished" my education. I'd make a kick-as$ soldier.
So it seems to be well recognized that there is some kind of stigma attached to a GED; but so far no one has said that the stigma continues after a few college courses have been finished, even with the military. That is the whole point of encouraging this course of action, to get at least a few college courses under their belt. And a Free Republic Bacculaureate which would be a GED+ would have no stigma at all.