After 70 years as a nonprofit, GED test switching to for-profit venture
Diane Orson/WNPR
Donald Desmond teaches Abdesa Bustina to use a computer at the New Haven Adult and Continuing Education Center. The new GED will be offered only on computer.
For more than 70 years, a nonprofit, the American Council on Education has administered the GED tests to high school dropouts who want to go on to college or just get a job that requires a high school diploma.
But in January, the General Educational Development test is going for-profit, part of a trend of privatization in education.
The group has partnered with Pearson - considered the largest for-profit education business in the world - to form the new GED Testing Service, a for-profit company to run the test.
The Council’s leadership said the partnership came because they wanted to revamp the test because they felt the GED wasn’t adequately preparing test takers for the job market.
“For this program to remain relevant, to really have an impact on economic development, and a bottom line, to really give adult learners a chance at earning a sustainable living wage, we had to not just measure high school equivalency," said
