Kentucky will pay for thousands of GED tests to help Kentuckians’ further their education, state officials announced Tuesday morning.
Kentucky’s Education and Workforce Development Cabinet will allot $600,000 to waive GED test fees for first-time test takers in the coming year, Lt. Gov. and cabinet secretary Jacqueline Coleman said.
About 335,000 Kentuckians over the age of 18 don’t have a high school diploma or GED, officials said. Paying for a test should not be a barrier to better-paying jobs, they added.
“If we’re going to thrive as a state, we have to have multiple opportunities for all of our citizens to succeed,” Gov. Andy Beshear said in a press conference Tuesday.
More education can lead to better jobs, fewer people working multiple jobs and ending the cycle of poverty, Beshear said.
“No one should have to live paycheck to paycheck,” he added.
Coleman, a former educator, said the move goes “hand-in-hand with our ability to educate all Kentuckians.”
Also: Here are 8 Kentucky education trends to watch in the 2020 legislative budget session
Brigitte Blom Ramsey, the president of the nonpartisan education advocacy group the Prichard Committee, said the move is “paramount to improving the education of all Kentuckians.”
“Economic projections show the number of Kentuckians with a college degree or certificate falls short of the demand for an educated workforce,” she told The Courier Journal.
“To provide a better quality of life for more Kentuckians and their families, we must break down barriers to college access.”
About 5,000 people will have their fees covered through the initial allotment. If there is more demand, “we’ll find the money,” Beshear said.
The cost of the exam is one of the top two obstacles to taking the test cited by potential test-takers, cabinet spokesperson JT Henderson said. Transportation is the other.
The GED, which is a common high school diploma equivalent, costs $120 to take.
That figure is nearly double what it was a few years ago, when the GED testing fee was about $70 in many states. In early 2014, the test increased in price while also becoming more difficult and online-only.
Experts at the time feared the higher cost would make it more difficult for potential test-takers, many of whom worked low-paying jobs, to afford and take the GED test.
People without a high school diploma or the GED equivalent have household incomes about $10,000 less than the state average, Henderson said.
As a result, Henderson said, GED attainment dropped in the following years.
Those interested in taking the GED should contact their county Kentucky Skills U representative, officials said, or text MYGED to 74700 for more information.
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Written by Olivia Krauth. Cross-posted from the
Courier-Journal via the Kentucky Press News Service.