Athens County residents wanting to save money on the General Education Development test will have to travel more than 40 miles to take the cheaper, paper-based test.
The county’s GED testing center, the Tri-County Adult Career Center, only offers the computer-based version of the test, which costs $120. The paper-based test costs $40.
The whole state is moving to computer-based GED testing in 2014, said Stacy Franks, test-administrator at the Adult Career Center. Some testing centers have already made the switch, and the Athens County GED testing location is one of them, she added.
The current 2002 GED test series is scheduled to end on Dec. 31, 2013, according to the Ohio Department of Education website. The Athens County testing center is one of 10 in the state that have moved to the computer-based testing.
When Hocking College decided to no longer offer GED testing for the county residents at the beginning of last October, the state’s education department asked the Tri-County Adult Career Center to offer testing since everything is moving online in 2014, Franks said. The career center already offers many online tests, so they had the resources to offer the computer-based GED.
Although test-takers at the center in Nelsonville will still take the 2002 GED test series, the test payment for the computer-based price will still be $120, Franks said.
“We have had people surprised they can’t take paper test,” Franks said. “The biggest thing for people is price change.”
Franks added that the price increase is “ridiculous”, noting that the computer-based test is more than double what the paper-based test costs.
She said that she hasn’t had anyone come in to take the computer-based test, adding that she wouldn’t be surprised if they were traveling to other counties to find the cheaper, paper-based test.
Nearby testing centers that still offer the paper-based test include the Buckeye Hills Career Center in Rio Grande, the Mid-East Career and Technology Center in Zanesville, and the Washington County JVS in Marietta, but these locations are at least an hour drive from Athens.
Joe McGowen, director of the The Work Station in The Plains, said when the county made the switch to computer-based testing, he started searching for paper-based testing centers to send prospective test-takers.
“We are giving them options,” he said. “The people we have presently been working with have chosen to drive the extra miles for the $40 paper-based test.”
The Work Station helps to prepare people for the GED through pre-test assessments and practice testing.
The last day to apply for the paper-based test is Aug. 9, 2013 and the last day in the state of Ohio for paper-based testing is Dec. 21, 2013.
ls114509@ohiou.edu
