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Finishing high school as an adult: the GED, the HiSET, free classes, and diploma scams

For anyone who left school without a diploma and wants one now, at 17 or at 70, and for the people cheering them on. This page passes on, by name and date, what the Federal Trade Commission, CareerOneStop (a U.S. Department of Labor site) and the two tests’ own sites say: the real ways to finish, how to find out which test your state uses, where the free classes are, what the GED test and the HiSET exam ask of you, testing at home, accommodations for disabilities, and the signs of a diploma scam. It puts the questions you pick on one sheet, and prints a card to keep track.

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Not having the diploma is a fact about what happened in those years. It is not a measure of you. That sentence is ours.
There is a real way, and adults use it every day. The FTC says many people earn a high school equivalency diploma by taking a test, and that passing any of the equivalency tests offered by your state will give you a diploma.
Which test depends on your state. The FTC says to find out which tests your state accepts at CareerOneStop.org, a website sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor.
The classes can be free. CareerOneStop says Adult Basic Education programs are free and available to the public through public schools, libraries, community-based organizations and other groups.
No classes, no test, done in a day? The FTC says: that’s a scam. It says you generally pay for classes and tests, but not for the diploma itself.
Two of our sources sell the tests. GED Testing Service and HiSET publish the two exams. We pass on their rules, not their advertising, and we print no price: both say it varies by state.
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Where to start

The real ways. The FTC names a high school equivalency test, and in some states classes for credit. It says no state lets you get a diploma with only work experience credits.
Your state’s test. CareerOneStop lists the exams offered in each state and says states do change the options they support, so check with your state’s adult education agency.
Free classes. CareerOneStop says Adult Basic Education is free, for people at least 16 years old who are not enrolled in high school, and that it includes high school equivalency preparation.
The GED test. GED Testing Service says it is four subjects taken as separate exams, and that the passing score is 145 for each.
The HiSET exam. HiSET’s site says it is five subtests, and that the passing score for each is 8 out of 20, with at least 45 out of 100 overall.
At home. Both sites describe online testing with a live proctor, a private room and a computer with a webcam. Whether your state allows it is on each site.
Disabilities. Both sites say accommodations such as extra time exist, and that you ask before you schedule.
Scams. The FTC says to report a diploma scam at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and to your state attorney general.
Someone to call. The number printed on CareerOneStop is 1-877-872-5627 (TTY 1-877-889-5627).

With JavaScript on, this page has more on each of these, and puts the questions you choose on one sheet.

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It feels too big to start: One step at a time.
An offer that feels off: Is this a scam?
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Coming home: Coming home from jail or prison and Fair chance job kit.
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The job side: Resume builder, Job search log and Interview practice.
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General information from people who care, not legal or professional advice. We are not teachers, test administrators or school counselors. The rules, the prices and even which tests exist are set state by state, and they change. Two of our sources, GED Testing Service and HiSET, sell the tests they describe. Nothing here can promise that you will pass, or that a program is approved. Before you pay anyone or schedule anything, check with your state’s department of education or adult education office.

This page and its wording were written with AI (Claude) for Scarlet Beast (our AI policy). No teacher, test administrator or school counselor has reviewed it. The facts were read on October 7, 2026 on each source’s own pages: the Federal Trade Commission’s “High School Diploma Scams” (December 2023); CareerOneStop’s pages on high school equivalency, state options and Adult Basic Education (sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor; no date on the pages); nine pages of ged.com, GED Testing Service’s site; seven pages of hiset.org, PSI Services’ site; the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ education page; and the front pages of jobcorps.gov and nld.org. Two of those sources sell the tests they describe. We pass on their rules and leave out their advertising: no earnings claims, no counts of graduates, no acceptance rates, and no products. Left out on purpose: every price (both sites say it varies by state), CareerOneStop’s state-by-state table (it says states change), any state’s own rules, and every statistic. What we could not read: ed.gov, the U.S. Department of Education’s site, refused our server, so its list of state education departments, which the FTC links to, is not linked here; we did not read the HiSET page that lists its five subtests, in which languages each state offers each test, how long an accommodations decision takes, or any state prison’s or jail’s rules. USAGov has no page on this that we could find. We called no number. Everything marked “ours” is ours. It saves nothing: no cookies, no storage, and no analytics on this page.

Finishing high school as an adult: the GED, the HiSET, free classes, and diploma scams

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