BILL NUMBER:S2788

TITLE OF BILL:
An act
to amend the education law, in relation to creating an application fee,
not to exceed fifty dollars for the administration of the general
education development program

PURPOSE:
This legislation would provide a source of funding for the State's GED
(General Education Development) program which has faced serious
funding shortfalls in recent years.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section one amends § 317 of Education Law to require the Commissioner
to collect a fee from those taking the GED exam.

Section two provides for the effective date, which is 90 days.

EXISTING LAW:
Funding for GED testing comes from the State Education Department's
operations budget. In 2004-2005, the GED was funded with $3.9 million
in State General Funds, and $180,000 in fees.
By 2008-2009, there was no longer a budget line for GED testing, but
SED continued to allocate $3.9 million for the program. Since then,
SED's budget has been cut by 40% and the department can no longer
              

adequately support the program. 48 states finance their GED testing
programs in part through a testing fee. However, under New York
Public Law 317, the state is prohibited from charging test takers a
fee. Prior to 1994 a fee of $25 was collected by SED and was used to
support the program.

JUSTIFICATION:
Prior to the enactment of the 1994 budget, SED charged a fee to take
the GED exam. Article VII language enacted in 1994 prohibited the
collecting of fees for the GED exam, and provided a $1.2 million
appropriation for the program.

Unfortunately due to the lack of any fee, many applicants take the
test with no preparation, or sign up for a seat but fail to show up
to take the exam. As a result, many applicants are denied a seat and
are forced to wait months to take the test. While the demand for
seats has increased -the pass rate has fluctuated between 50% and 60%
statewide for years. SED pays a fee of $20 to the test administrators
for each seat, which means nearly half of the fees are wasted on
failed tests.

There are other costs associated with the GED. The Department does not
develop or administer the GED. SED pays approximately $1.45 million
annually to the American Council on Education (ACE) to use the test.
Operational costs for the Department's GED Office costs about

$900,000. Another $1.1 million is paid to test administrators, of
which there are approximately 300 sites.

New York State's pass rate is consistently among the lowest in the
nation, and was dead last in 2008. It is important to note that New
York State is one of only two states that does not charge a fee to
take the GED. California and Texas, states comparable to New York in
size and numbers of test-takers, charge applicants $100 per test.

By charging a fee, the State Education Department could both raise
revenue to support the program, and obtain a higher pass rate,
thereby wasting fewer resources.

Please note: TANF funds are available for vouchers to take the GED,
and therefore, applicants on public assistance would not be denied a
seat for the GED based upon their lack of ability to pay.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
This is a new bill.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
This bill would provide as much as $2.5 million to the State Education
Department to support the GED program.

EFFECTIVE DATE:
This bill would take effect 90 days after it is enacted.