Big changes to GED prompt rush to test now

The year-end deadline to take the GED as we know it, is right around the corner. Otherwise, those who need to take it have to wait until the 2014 version comes out in January — and big changes are afoot that might make it more difficult.

This change is normal for the GED (General Educational Development degree), as it goes through series. Each series is usually changed or updated every 10 years.

This isn”t anything new for the test, but the test is new.

“So the pencil-and-paper testing will go away as of Dec. 31,” Mickey Killingsworth a GED test administrator, said Wednesday.

Not only is the deadline to take the test coming up soon, but soon there will only be one place to take the test.

COCC’s Redmond campus soon will be the sole test location because it is too expensive for others to switch to the computer-based system. It costs around $75,000.

Because of this, there will be a heftier test fee in 2014. Another difference is that instead of five test sections, there will only be four

“And they’re going to combine some English segments. Some people are going to say it’s going to be harder,” Killingsworth said.

That has not been proven, though.We’ll only find out if the test is harder once the new version rolls out.

One reason people are saying that it could be more difficult is because the No Child Left Behind Act has cracked down on what children need to know to get into college and be successful.

Those taking the GED need to prove competency in that subject matter.

One thing that’s important to keep in mind is that because many of the testing sites are at community colleges, the Dec. 31 deadline might come sooner,.because the school might be on holiday. COCC breaks for the year in early December.