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Iowa Literacy Resource Center
415 Commercial St. Waterloo, Iowa 50701
Tel: 319-233-1200
800-772-2023
Fax: 319-233-1964
Copyright © 2008

 

Introduction to Earning Your GED in Iowa

  1. In Iowa, the GED is also called the High School Equivalency Diploma.
  2. In Iowa, the GED pre-tests, instruction and tests are offered at each of the 15 Community Colleges and usually at multiple locations and at various times of day to meet your needs. Iowa has the highest GED pass-rate in the nation.
  3. The General Education Development (GED) Tests certify a high school level of academic knowledge and skills. In fact, 95 percent of U.S. colleges and universities accept GED graduates who meet their other qualifications for admission, according to the College Board. About 96 percent of U.S. employers accept the GED credential as equal to a traditional high school diploma, according to recent studies.
  4. When you contact one of Iowa’s 15 Community Colleges for information about taking the GED, you will be connected with an instructor who will help to evaluate your skills. The instructor will inform you about how he/she can help you to prepare and when you are ready to test.
  5. The only way to earn a GED is to successfully pass the Official GED Test Battery which includes the five Official GED Test Battery subtests (Science, Mathematics, Social Studies, Language Arts Writing, and Language Arts Reading).
  6. The five tests, which last for a total of 7½ hours, also measure skills in communication, information processing, problem solving, and critical thinking.
  7. You may take the GED Tests if:
    1. You are not enrolled in high school, and
    2. You have not graduated from high school, and
    3. You are at least age 17
  8. Test accommodations are available for candidates with a documented physical, sensory, emotional, or specific learning disability.
  9. You can ONLY take the Official GED Test Battery at an approved Iowa Community College GED test center. There are NO on-line or correspondence testing programs recognized by the General Educational Development Testing Service (GEDTS) of the American Council of Education (ACE).

Please contact the Iowa Department of Education at 515.281.7308 for further information or go to www.readiowa.org