Getting a GED certificate takes five steps. You check that you meet your state’s age and residency rules, open an account at GED.com, pass a GED Ready practice test in each subject, score 145 or higher on all four subject tests, and then collect the credential, which is issued by your state and not by GED Testing Service. The four tests total 425 minutes of testing time and can be taken one at a time, weeks or months apart. The bill runs from nothing in New York, where the state pays, to $46 a subject in Georgia. Every figure below comes from GED Testing Service’s own policy pages or the issuing state agency, checked in September 2026.
The path, in order
- Confirm eligibility on age, residency, and the rule that you cannot be enrolled in high school or already hold a diploma.
- Create one GED.com account with your name exactly as it appears on your ID.
- Take GED Ready, the official practice test, for each subject. It is $7.99 a subject and it is mandatory if you want to test online.
- Pass the four subject tests with 145 or better on each. There is no averaging.
- Receive the credential from your state, and know how to order copies later.
Step 1: Check whether you can test where you live
Three rules decide eligibility, and all three are set by the state rather than by GED Testing Service.
Age. The default minimum is 18, and every state carves out a different route for younger test takers. Georgia wants 40 hours in a free adult education class first, Texas admits 16-year-olds only from state care, a court order or Job Corps, and New York sets the floor at 19 outright.
Residency. California, Texas and Ohio require it. Illinois and New York require it plus 30 days. Florida and Georgia do not require it at all, although Florida wants a Florida address at registration.
Enrollment status. Two bars apply everywhere. You cannot currently be enrolled in high school (an approved GED prep program does not count as enrollment in Texas), and you cannot already hold a high school diploma.
| State | Minimum age and under-18 route | Residency | Cost per subject (test center / online) |
What the state issues |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | 18, or within 60 days of your 18th birthday, or within 60 days of your expected graduation date if not enrolled, or 17 with 60+ consecutive days out of school plus a letter from the military, a college or an employer | Yes, resident per Government Code §233, or active-duty military stationed in the state | $41 / $41 | California High School Equivalency Certificate |
| Texas | 18, or 17 with parental permission, or 16 only if in the care of a state agency, under a court order, or in Job Corps | Yes | $36.25 / $42.25 | State of Texas Certificate of High School Equivalency |
| New York | 19, and ages 16–18 need institutional approval on an Age Eligibility form | Yes, 30 days | No charge / no charge (the state pays) | NYS High School Equivalency (HSE) Diploma |
| Florida | 16 or 17 with a formal declaration of intent to terminate school enrollment and a notarized underage testing form | No, but a Florida address and government-issued ID at registration | $38 / not stated ($12 test-center retake fee) |
State of Florida High School Diploma |
| Georgia | 18, or 16–17 after a minimum of 40 hours in a free state-approved adult education class and minimum readiness scores | No | $46 / $46 | Georgia GED Diploma |
| Illinois | 18, or 17 with a withdrawal letter from the last school attended, or 16 only through Regional Safe Schools, Alternative Learning Opportunities or Lincoln’s Challenge Academy, with the program petitioning | Yes, 30 days, plus photo ID with a current Illinois address on test day | $36 / $36 ($10 test-center retake fee) |
Illinois High School Diploma |
| Ohio | 18 with a signed withdrawal form, and 16–17 also need a notarized consent form from a parent, guardian or court official | Yes | $36 / $36 | Ohio High School Equivalency Diploma |
Three things stand out in that table. The credential has a different name in every one of the seven states, and none of them is called a “GED certificate”, which matters when an application form asks what you hold. The price swings by $10 a subject, or $40 across the battery. And the under-18 route is genuinely different state to state, so advice written for one state is often wrong in the next one.
Step 2: Register at GED.com
Registration is one free account at GED.com, and it is the account that follows you afterwards. It holds your scores, it books retakes, and for anyone who tested from 2014 onward it is where duplicate documents are ordered years later. Two details are worth getting right the first time. Enter your name and date of birth exactly as they appear on the photo ID you will present at check-in, because a mismatch is a standard reason for being turned away on test day. And register in the state where you intend to test, since the account applies that state’s rules, prices and under-18 requirements. Subjects are then booked one at a time. Nothing requires you to sit all four in one day, and most people do not.
Step 3: Take GED Ready, the official practice test
GED Ready is written by the people who write the exam. It costs $7.99 per subject or $25.99 for all four, runs about half the length of the real test, and is timed. Results come back in three bands:
- Likely to pass, 145 to 200. “Schedule right away.”
- Too close to call, 134 to 144.
- Not likely to pass, 100 to 133.
The practice test also generates a study plan pointing to specific chapters and pages. It runs on a computer or laptop, not a phone, and each purchase is a single attempt. For the preparation itself, which this article deliberately does not cover, see how to study for the GED.
One hard requirement is attached to GED Ready. To sit a subject test online with a remote proctor, you must have scored in the green “likely to pass” band for that subject within the previous 60 days.
Step 4: The four subject tests
| Subject test | Time allowed | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Reasoning Through Language Arts | 150 minutes (3 sections, includes a 10-minute break and 45 minutes for the extended-response essay) | Reading for meaning, identifying and creating arguments, grammar and language |
| Mathematical Reasoning | 115 minutes (includes a 3-minute break) | Basic math, geometry, basic algebra, graphs and functions. On-screen calculator in part 2, TI-30XS permitted |
| Science | 90 minutes (no break) | Reading for meaning in science, designing and interpreting experiments, using numbers and graphics |
| Social Studies | 70 minutes (no break) | Reading for meaning, analyzing historical events and arguments, using numbers and graphs |
| Total | 425 minutes | Questions are multiple choice plus drag-and-drop, fill-in-the-blank, select-an-area and drop-down formats |
What counts as passing
You need 145 or higher on each of the four subjects. Scores are not averaged, so a 190 in one subject does nothing for a 140 in another, and that subject has to be retaken. Above the pass line there are two further bands, both of which are printed on the score report and can be worth money later:
- GED College Ready, 165 to 174. Evidence you are ready for college-level coursework, which some institutions accept in place of a placement test.
- GED College Ready + Credit, 175 to 200. Skills that “could qualify for up to 10 college credit hours”, subject to the institution’s own policy.
Results are usually in your account within 24 hours, though GED Testing Service allows up to three business days for processing.
Retakes
You retake only the subject you failed, not the battery. The first two retests in a subject have no waiting period at all. From the third failed retest onward there is a 60-day wait before the next attempt. There is also a discounted retake program. After a full-price attempt, reduced-price retests are available for 12 months from that first attempt, and the discount applies only after a failed attempt, never on a retake taken to improve a passing score.
Testing online or at a test center
The online-proctored option is available in most states, though not universally, and California, Texas, Georgia, Illinois and Ohio all offer it. The price does not always match the test-center price. Texas charges $36.25 at a test center and $42.25 online, while California, Georgia, Illinois and Ohio charge the same either way.
The requirements for testing online are strict, and people are turned away for failing them:
- A green “likely to pass” GED Ready result for that subject within the last 60 days.
- A computer with a webcam and reliable internet, checked in advance with the system test tool.
- A room with four walls, a closed door and no distractions. Nobody else may be present once the exam starts, and you cannot leave the webcam’s view.
- A government-issued ID, verified at check-in.
- If you are under 18 in California, Georgia, Illinois or Ohio, a parent or guardian must attend the pre-test check-in to give consent and authorize the recording. California states plainly that the session is revoked if they are not there.
It is the same test either way, scored the same way, and it produces the same state credential.
Step 5: How and when the state issues the certificate
This is the step the “3 easy steps” articles skip, and it is the one that generates most of the questions. GED Testing Service writes and scores the test. The document is issued by the state, on the state’s timetable, under the state’s name for it. What arrives, and when, is therefore a state-by-state matter:
- New York mails the HSE diploma automatically, at no cost, within 8 to 10 weeks of passing.
- Florida emails the electronic diploma and transcript free, and a printed diploma is ordered afterwards from your GED.com account under My Scores → Order Duplicates.
- Georgia provides one complimentary transcript and one complimentary diploma through DiplomaSender.
- Texas no longer mails physical copies at all. The Texas Education Agency runs an automated search-and-print system, and third parties verify the certificate there.
- California issues through GED credentialing, and the electronic link usually arrives within minutes. All orders should be processed within two weeks.
- Ohio routes documents through DiplomaSender, and Illinois routes them through the Regional Office of Education for the county where you tested.
GED Testing Service’s own guidance is that most physical orders take one to two days to process and mail, but can take up to two weeks. For the gap between the last test and the paperwork, see how long it takes to get your GED after you pass. For the document itself, what a GED diploma looks like shows the state-by-state differences.
Ordering copies later
GED Testing Service is explicit that “there is no national process when ordering a replacement GED diploma or transcript” and that state processes “vary widely”. In practice there are three routes:
- Tested in 2014 or later: log in to GED.com, open My Scores, choose Order Duplicates. Fees depend on the issuing state and the document.
- Tested before 2014: start with the organization that administered the test, which might be an adult education program, a high school or a vocational school. If that fails, go to the state education department, which will either supply the record or name the agency that holds it. New York charges $5.00 for a transcript and $10.00 for a diploma with the transcript included, two to six weeks by mail or faster through a my.ny.gov account.
- States with their own system: Texas (the TEA search portal), Ohio and Georgia (DiplomaSender), Illinois (the Regional Office of Education).
These requests ask for identifying details, often including a Social Security number. Send them only through the state agency’s own form or portal, never to a third-party site offering to “retrieve” the record for you. If the obstacle is an agency that will not respond, what employers actually check explains what the requesting party needs, which is usually less than people assume.
HiSET, the alternative in some states
The GED is not the only high school equivalency test. HiSET, run by ETS, is used across roughly 30 US jurisdictions, including American Samoa, Colorado, Guam, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, West Virginia and Wyoming.
Some states run both. California, Georgia, Illinois and Ohio appear on HiSET’s jurisdiction list and have GED policy pages, so residents there choose. Texas, New York and Florida are not on HiSET’s list. HiSET fees and retest rules are set jurisdiction by jurisdiction, exactly as the GED’s are, so the only reliable source for either is your own state’s page. High school equivalency diploma or GED compares what the two credentials are worth once you hold one.
What the whole thing costs
At the prices above, the four subject tests run from $144 (Illinois or Ohio at $36) to $184 (Georgia at $46), with New York at zero. Add $25.99 for GED Ready in all four subjects, and budget for at least one retake. The discounted retake program exists because retakes are normal.
Several states cut that further, and the offers change. New York pays outright. Ohio gives first-time testers a voucher worth up to $80 through a Career-Technical Planning District office. Illinois was running a $26-off promo code while funding lasted, and Texas subsidizes eligible adults aged 21 and over. Adult education classes, which are how Georgia’s under-18 route works, are free in most states. Set against what a high school diploma costs by other routes, the equivalency test is normally the least expensive path available.
After you pass
The credential behaves like a high school diploma in most contexts. How to list a GED on a resume covers the wording, including the common mistake of writing the credential’s name wrong for your state. The guide on whether you need a GED to join the Army covers the tier system the services use, and the pay by education level hub has the earnings data this post used to answer with invented figures.
One route is missing from that list, and it is buying a document. A credential that is not in the issuing state’s record returns nothing when anyone checks, because the check is a database lookup rather than an inspection of the paper. Fake GED credentials sets out the legal exposure, and if finishing high school is still an option, how to get a high school diploma covers credit recovery and adult diploma programs.
Replica GED diplomas and transcripts for display
ValidGrad makes two novelty replicas for display, a replica GED diploma and a replica GED transcript, with your choice of wording, layout and paper. People order them when the original is framed at a relative’s house, filed away somewhere, or gone, and a second copy is wanted for a wall or a desk. Current pricing, paper options and turnaround are on the product pages.
These are novelty and display items. A replica must never be used to claim a credential you did not earn, submitted to an employer or a school, or offered in answer to a verification request. That rule is set out in our terms and conditions. If you need a document that will survive a check, order it from the state that issued yours, using the routes above.
Frequently asked questions
What is the fastest way to get a GED?
Take GED Ready in all four subjects, book whichever subjects come back green immediately, and sit them on separate days rather than waiting until you feel ready for all four. Scores post within 24 hours, so a prepared test taker can clear the battery in under two weeks. Preparation is usually the slow part, and after that the state’s issuing timetable, which ranges from an automatic email in Florida to 8–10 weeks in the mail in New York.
How do I obtain proof of my GED?
For anything official, the proof that counts is a transcript sent directly from the state’s system or its vendor, meaning GED.com, DiplomaSender, the Texas Education Agency portal or the state education department, depending on where you tested. A PDF you forward yourself is treated as unofficial by most employers and admissions offices, however genuine it is.
Can I take the GED entirely online?
In most states, yes, with a remote proctor, and the credential is identical. You need a green GED Ready score in that subject from the last 60 days, a webcam and reliable internet, a room with four walls and a closed door, nobody else present, and a government-issued ID at check-in. Online testing is not offered in every state, and in a few it costs more than a test center.
How long is a GED certificate valid?
The credential itself does not expire, and none of the state policies reviewed here sets an end date on it. Two related things do lapse. A green GED Ready result qualifies you for online testing for only 60 days, and the discounted retake program runs for 12 months from your first full-price attempt in a subject.
Are there states where the GED is free?
New York does not charge test takers at all, because the state pays for the subtests. Elsewhere the discounts are conditional. Ohio offers a voucher of up to $80 for first-time testers arranged through a Career-Technical Planning District, Illinois has a promo code while funding lasts, and Texas subsidizes eligible adults aged 21 and over. Adult education classes that prepare you for the test are free in most states even where the test itself is not.
Sources
- GED Testing Service, GED test subjects (subject tests, timings, question formats)
- GED Testing Service, GED test scores (145 pass, 165–174 College Ready, 175–200 College Ready + Credit)
- GED Testing Service, Understanding scores (results within 24 hours, up to 3 business days)
- GED Testing Service, Test retakes (two retests, then a 60-day wait, and a 12-month discounted retake window)
- GED Testing Service, GED Ready ($7.99 per subject, $25.99 for four, and the score bands)
- GED Testing Service, Take the GED test online (green score in 60 days, room and equipment rules, ID)
- GED Testing Service, Life after the GED (the state issues the credential, 1–2 days to process, up to 2 weeks)
- GED Testing Service, How to obtain a copy of your GED transcript (no national process, pre-2014 routes)
- GED Testing Service state policy pages, all checked September 13, 2026: California, Texas, New York, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Ohio
- New York State Education Department, ACCES, Duplicate diplomas and/or transcripts ($5.00 transcript, $10.00 diploma, two to six weeks)
- HiSET, State requirements (jurisdictions that use the HiSET exam)
All prices and timelines checked September 13, 2026. State fees, subsidies and promotional codes change, so confirm on your state’s policy page before you register.