LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman, D-Ky., announced more than 10,000 Kentuckians have earned their GEDs since Jan. 2020 when the Kentucky Adult Education Department (KYAE) announced the fee waiver program.

What You Need To Know

  • More than 10,000 Kentuckians have earned their GEDs since Jan. 2020

  • The Kentucky Adult Education Department began waiving the required fee in 2020

  • Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman, D-Ky., said KYAE reported 18,200 people took part in the free GED promotion

Mason Hampton is among the adults who earned his GED. He didn’t finish high school.

“So when I withdraw or withdrew, I knew that I wanted to get my GED because I wanted to go to college,” Hampton said.

He explained it’s not because he didn’t get good grades that he had to withdraw, it’s because he worked two jobs that caused him to be exhausted and began skipping school.

“I don’t always particularly love going to school, but I know that I have to go to school to achieve the goal of becoming a nurse. So I wouldn’t be able to do that though, if it wasn’t for obtaining my GED,” Hampton said.

The 22-year-old said his GED is what he credits now to getting a job as a care technician at a Lexington hospital. He’s one of the numerous adults who benefited from the $120 fee waived for first-time test takers.

“This move eliminated the most cited barrier to those who did not graduate from high school,” said Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman, D-Ky.

Coleman said KYAE reported 18,200 people participated in the free GED promotion, with 10,169 earning their GEDs since Jan. 2020.

“We’re seeing such a demand for these services that we’ve increased the number of GED testing sites by 67% across the Commonwealth, up from 114 in 2020 to 171 active testing centers in 2024,” Coleman said.

Hampton is grateful to earn it because it’s given him a job.

“I might be tired, I might be stressful at times, but when I go to work, I genuinely just love being at work. It doesn’t feel all that much like a job and I absolutely love it. And I would not be able to work this job if it were not for me deciding to get my GED,” Hampton said.

Coleman said as of Sept. 2023, the Commonwealth surpassed the U.S. Department of Education goals for measurable skill gains to increase literacy, education and training levels among Kentucky’s adults for the first time since 2017.

Related Stories