GED Exams Still Miles From City College

High school equivalency examinations were halted at City College during the pandemic and have not resumed.

General Education Development or GED exams can be taken through San Mateo Adult & Career Education and is roughly 16 miles from Mission Center, where Associated Student Council Lydia Hernandez hopes testing can be offered at soon.

"We were going to get the computer testing programs," she said. "I honestly haven't heard or seen it happen yet."

Hernandez said the "hub" is working toward technology upgrades that would let it open for club activities, connect students with campus and peer resources to navigate online and virtual student services, and give English language learner students interpretation tools so they can take part in City College's governance committee meetings.

“I think they should have it in person,” Hernandez said, and that test takers "have to go to a website to access, there’s just so many barriers [right now].”

Maria Rosales-Uribe, faculty advisor of the transitional studies department, said that there is no timeline for when GED exams will happen and that they are “waiting for [the] IT to complete the specs,” as in “whatever technology” is needed. 

She hopes the possibility of schedules made available in either this fall or the spring.

“That's the part we are waiting for,” Rosales-Uribe said of the technology the department is missing. “Once that's there, then it should start after."

Grayson Myers, senior engineer for IT department, said any test “heavy on technology or use the web,” are essential in order for students to take a test in a “timely manner,” while also preventing outdated computers from impacting performance for students.

“If the computer isn’t turned on in a months time span, there could be updates lingering that could cause students to lose time.” Myers said.


Hernandez said Mission Center does have some testing infrastructure already in place and that "there are testing computers they can use for ESL level testing" on the first floor of the center. She said would still need to confirm whether those same machines are equipped to administer the GED exam.

Other Test Prep

Test preparation often happens over the summer in intensive credit recovery classes so students can still graduate with their high school class, and is one part of what the transitional studies department offer. The other is non-credit coursework preparing students to take the high school equivalency exams themselves.

The transitional studies department launched "TRST 4608: High School Equivalency Test Prep," a dedicated noncredit course that introduces students to the GED and HiSET test structures, subject areas, question types, test-taking strategies, study planning, and practice examinations.

Rosales-Uribe said the department has TRST Bridge to College Program, a program that allows eligible high school students to take up to 11 college credit units per semester while completing their high school diploma.

Exams are held online with supervision via software accessed by a live proctor "for fairness and for everyone to comply with" online testing rules.

The exam is available for anyone over the age of 18 and will be offered in both English and Spanish. To receive records, students should go to GED.com.