The GED Test Is About to Get Much Harder, and Much More Expensive - Kavitha Cardoza - The Atlantic

The GED Test Is About to Get Much Harder, and Much More Expensive - Kavitha Cardoza - The Atlantic:

The GED Test Is About to Get Much Harder, and Much More Expensive

The new version of the exam has tougher questions and a higher registration fee--plus it requires computer proficiency.

 

Eugene Hoshiko/AP Photo

Kiana Rucker dropped out of school when she was 15 years old to look after her younger brothers and sisters. Five years later she had a baby herself. For years, she relied mostly on food stamps, medical assistance, and subsidized housing to get by. But it always bothered her. “I don’t want to rely on anyone," Rucker, now 35, says. “I don’t want government help.”

So in 2010 Rucker decided to get her General Educational Development certificate. She took classes at Southeast Ministries, a nonprofit in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Washington, D.C. This past June--three years and five attempts later--she got a phone call saying she had finally passed the GED test. "The first thing I said was, 'Are you sure you have the right person?'" Rucker says, laughing. For the first time she feels she has a future. "So many things I can do now," she says. "Go to college, get into a trade, just get a job period. Because