GED Program
Mission Statement
Congratulations! Just by logging on to this website to learn about getting your GED credential, you have taken the first step toward having a more successful future.
You are in good company. Others who earned their GED credential include Bill Cosby, Dave Thomas of Wendy’s, Alicia Silverstone, Gretchen Wilson(country/western singer); Michael J Fox; Christian Slater, Ben Nighthorse Campbell(retired US Senator) and the former Surgeon General of the United States of America.
The General Educational Development (GED) test gives students an opportunity to complete their high school credential and move forward to post secondary or training centers. Once completed, a GED credential shows colleges and employers that a person has the skills that are expected of a high school graduate.
The GED tests cover the five subjects that are taught in high school: Language Arts, Writing and Reading; Social Studies, Science, and Mathematics. Each test and section are timed based on the difficulty of each section.
Success Stories
2010 Graduation Speaker Inspires Audience
When commencement speaker Paulette Brown received her GED certification on March 24, 2010 she was the oldest graduate in the room — and proud of it. At 40something, she had been planning to finish high school for decades. A mother at 16, she went on to have four children and work hard to support them.
“Then, one day, I had an epiphany,” she explains in her speech. “I acknowledged the fact that I was required to participate in my destiny, and I began to plan my future.”
Click to “read more” to view Paulette’s entire graduation speech. Her words of wisdom and encouragement inspired the audience, and they are certain to inspire you, too!
In the News
The Army Times reports: "We're a victim of our own recruiting success"
The Army Times, August 28, 2010 — In today’s issue of The Army Times reporter Susanne M. Schafer wrote that the Army is ending a program that helped nearly 3,000 high school dropouts earn high school equivalency certificates and become soldiers.
“The GED pilot program known as the Army’s prep school started here in summer 2008, when the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan left the service scrambling to find soldiers,” Schafer wrote. “But since then, with the economy in a downward spiral and jobs hard to come by, more people with diplomas have been enlisting.”
In 2008, 82.8 percent of people who enlisted for active duty were high school graduates. That number jumped to 94.6 percent in 2009. “We’re a victim of our own recruiting success,” said Col. Kevin Shwedo, deputy commander at Fort Jackson, the Army’s largest training installation.
It turns out that recruits who were in the program’s last class and have been in basic training for about five weeks said they were grateful to squeak through. “If it weren’t for the program, I’d still be a shift manager at McDonald’s,” said Kristi Garcia of Alice, Texas.