Starting January 2014, Maine will offer the High School
Equivalency Test (HiSET) instead of the GED as a high school equivalency test.
As part of the redesign of the GED, all GED test-takers must
take it electronically. Currently Maine offers the GED by pen-and-paper and higher
education officials in Maine feared the state would not be able to convert its
76 testing sites in time for the changeover.
Although it is free for individual test-takers in Maine
since the state covers the cost of high school equivalency tests, the new GED
would have cost the state $80 per test set, which includes the exams for the
five different sections of the GED.
The HiSET costs Maine $50 per test set and includes two free
retests. It is available electronically or through traditional pen-and-paper
tests.
Iowa, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire and
Tennessee have also dropped the GED in favor of the HiSET test.
For more information on the tests available in each state, refer
to our high school
assessment chart.
