PRINCETON, N.J., Feb. 6, 2015 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — To expand access to high school equivalency testing, the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction has approved the HiSET ® program by Educational Testing Service (ETS) as an affordable alternative to the GED^® test.

North Carolina is the 13th state to choose the HiSET program, which offers computer- and paper-delivered testing options in English and Spanish to serve the greatest number of candidates. The announcement follows adoption of the HiSET exam by California, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Tennessee and Wyoming, along with U.S. territories American Samoa, Guam, Northern Marianas and Palau. 

“Increasing student access to education is one of our highest priorities,” said Dr. Lisa Chapman, senior vice president and chief academic officer for the North Carolina Community College System. “We are pleased to partner with ETS HiSET to offer our students another option to further their education.”

The number of states, educators, policymakers and employers looking for an alternative high school proficiency exam is expected to grow. High school proficiency exams include elements that are critical to providing out-of-school youth and adults with proof of their readiness for higher education or the workplace.

Developed by ETS and Iowa Testing Programs, the HiSET exam covers the same content areas as the GED^® test and is accepted by institutions, and commercial and government employers in the same way, however, the HiSET program’s advantages include:

• Affordable test fee to keep this valuable credential accessible for candidates
• English and Spanish versions of the test
• Computer-delivered and paper-delivered testing options
• Flexibility with the use of existing test centers, test prep and curricula
• Test design and validation by experts in assessment development for fair and reliable results

“ETS looks forward to working with educators in North Carolina in providing adult learners with an affordable, accessible high school equivalency exam,” said John Oswald, vice president and general manager, K–12 Student Assessment Programs at ETS. “Keeping test takers in mind, the HiSET exam is designed to be administered with existing resources and the program allows candidates to complete HiSET sections in groups or individually.”

For more information about the ETS HiSET program, please visit http://hiset.ets.org/.

About ETS
At ETS, we advance quality and equity in education for people worldwide by creating assessments based on rigorous research. ETS serves individuals, educational institutions and government agencies by providing customized solutions for teacher certification, English language learning, and elementary, secondary and postsecondary education, and by conducting education research, analysis and policy studies. Founded as a nonprofit in 1947, ETS develops, administers and scores more than 50 million tests annually — including the TOEFL^® and TOEIC ^® tests, the GRE ^® tests and The Praxis Series® assessments — in more than 180 countries, at over 9,000 locations worldwide. www.ets.org