During World War I young who men joined the war effort without graduating from high school were awarded diplomas. After World War II, the men were required to pass a competency test to receive the high school equivalency certificate.
In 1942, the Armed Forces constructed the equivalency test. In 1945 the American Council on Education (ACE) formed the Veterans' Testing Service (VTS) that distributed the tests to civilians who were applying for jobs and college. By 1959 more civilians were taking the tests than veterans; in 1963 the VTS changed its name to the GED.
The GED is similar to other standardized tests like the ACT and SAT. The test is made of six sections; five multiple-choice sections include the topics of literature and arts, mathematics, social studies and science; the fifth section of the test is a short essay of approximately 200 words.
Each section of the test is scored individually. If you do not pass a section of the test, you may retake that section up to two more times in that year; your new score will be added to your previously scored sections.
The American Council on Education website, www.acenet.edu, provides information for GED test locations and hours, although ACE recommends contacting the exact locations to verify times and locations. Sample test questions, along with the answers are available online under the "GED Testing Service" pages. ACE has also recently joined Facebook with a GED page, which allows for communication between the test designers and other test takers.
Since 30 percent of test takers do not pass on the first attempt, ACE strongly suggests taking a practice test before attempting the actual test.
Official online practice tests are available from www.4tests.com, www.gedonline.org and www.passged.com. Practice tests often include actual test questions from previous GED tests. Passged.com will convert your practice test score to let you know if you are prepared to take an actual test.
GED holders are more likely to attend college, more likely to work full-time, and generally make more money than high school dropouts. According to the GED Academy, GED holders make an average of $385,000 more in their lifetime than those without a GED or high school diploma.