GED Graduation Guide

Last Updated on April 13, 2024.

When you get your GED diploma, you deserve a proper GED graduation ceremony to celebrate your achievement. So, we put together this GED Graduation Guide to help you plan this important event.

While for high school graduates, the graduation ceremony is a significant event, a GED graduation gets much less attention, especially in the media, though many adult education programs organize graduation ceremonies.

There’s no greater recognition of a high school grad’s achievements than the high school graduation ceremony. The same should count for the GED® graduation. But it’s still not that popular.

It might be due to the fact that passing the 4 GED tests can be spread over many months or even years, and the graduation celebrations are on different dates for many students and are spread throughout the year.

Either way, even if you have no possibility to wear the traditional graduation cap and gown, we want to find a way to celebrate this important milestone in your life.

Our platform provides free online GED classes, including a wealth of resources generously offered by Onsego, to support you on the road toward your GED diploma.

So, let’s list what you can do to Celebrate Your GED Graduation.

1. GED Testing Service (GED.com) organizes the annual GED Grad Day, and you can be featured on their social media pages. In this post, we’ll take a closer look at how that works.
2. You can organize a party for close friends and family to express your gratitude for their help.
3. You can send a thank-you note to all people who helped you.
4. You can make it known on your social media accounts.
5. Buy a gift for yourself; you deserve it.

Annual GED Grad Day

Every year, GED Testing Service invites GED graduates to celebrate the achievements of students on GED Graduation Day.

On May 14th, GED students, graduates, educators, representatives of adult education programs, and friends and family members of graduates joined the celebration via various social media.

The celebration could be followed on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and participants shared their success stories, advice for test-takers, and graduation photos via Facebook. The hashtag #GEDGradDay was used for the celebration.

The submissions were also meant to encourage students who are in the process of taking the GED test and to inform and stimulate others to take the first steps in this journey that will boost their professional and educational options.

Sure, not every GED graduate wants to celebrate this accomplishment in this way, and celebrating it in your private environment is perfectly okay, but many successful GED test-takers enjoyed this year’s virtual event.

GED Graduation

Some local adult education programs arranged physical graduations so, in some areas, GED graduates were able to walk the stage with caps and gowns and receive their diplomas.

So on GED Grad Day, the virtual celebration was held on May 14th, and graduates could share their photos and join the graduation celebration online on Twitter and Facebook with the hashtag #GEDGradDay.

Due to the pandemic, quite a few GED graduation ceremonies were canceled this year, but that didn’t stop the celebration of the accomplishments of GED graduates.

The annual GED Grad Day event, organized by GED Testing Service, returned on May 14th this year, and everyone was really excited to celebrate the hard work GED grads had done to earn their credentials and go after their dreams.

Through organizing GED Grad Day, GED Testing Service hopes to motivate other adults who were not in the position to complete their high school education to set the first steps on the road to earning their GED high school equivalency diploma.

Understandably, the celebration was in an online format this year. GED Testing Service congratulated all successful test-takers on passing the test. Later in this post, we’ll also take a closer look at the process when you’ve passed the four GED subtests.

A Brighter Future

This year’s event highlighted “What’s Next” for successful GED test-takers. The credential will definitely lead to better employment options, and it allows for a college education. For more information about online GED testing options and requirements, check out this page.

GED graduates can go on to pursue careers in many fields as the credential is the equivalent of a common high school diploma. They qualify for postsecondary education in vocational or technical colleges, and the doors of universities and 4-year colleges will also open up for them.

On GED Grad Day, GED graduates joined the event and shared details about their future plans. Educators and representatives of adult education programs shared their stories about how grateful and appreciative they were of their students.

Hopefully, these stories will encourage others to give some more thought to what could be next in their lives. Earning a GED will definitely change their future options drastically.

Organize a Party for Close Friends and Family

When you’ve earned your GED diploma, congratulations! High time for a celebration. You can throw a party all by yourself, of course, but besides that being often a costly endeavor, you may think about joining forces, right?

If you have friends or know someone who also graduated, you may want to join forces and throw a graduation party together.

If friends or peers combine their celebrations into one single event with mutual friends and family invited, the celebration of their accomplishments together will probably leave a more lasting impression.

Planning a joint GED graduation party is much like planning your own grad party. Just make sure you’ll send invitations out and give your invitees enough time to arrange their plans.

So when you organize a joint party, your grad party will be a large event overall, and you may also use the advice of multiple guests to learn about job openings or how to deal with your upcoming college education appropriately.

Thank the People around You

Even if you don’t want to organize a party at all, sending thank-you notes to the people who helped you achieve your GED diploma is a good idea. And when you do organize a party, either by yourself or with a group, sending thank-you notes might be a good idea as well, don’t you think!?

Use your social media accounts to let the world know about your achievements! Your self-esteem will definitely get a boost, and you may even get some nice gifts from people you wouldn’t expect to do so. Who knows…

And if you can, get yourself a nice gift. It doesn’t need to be something fancy or expensive; just something that’s dear to you will do. There’s nothing wrong with making yourself happy. After all, you’ve managed to get your GED, and you definitely deserve it!

Now, let’s take a look at the process after you’ve successfully completed the four GED subtests.

GED Diploma and Transcript

When you’ve passed the final subject test, you will receive an email right that includes a copy of your GED e-diploma and your e-transcript.

These copies are the official GED diploma and transcript, and you can download and save them for your official records. You’ll need Adobe Reader (version 6.0 or up) to be able to download your documents.

Some colleges don’t accept electronic copies and require you to send official copies. So if you need to submit your transcripts to the schools you’re applying to, you will need extra copies.

If you passed the GED test in or after January 2014, just log in to your account on GED.com and order your additional transcript copies.

GED graduates who earned their GED diplomas before 2014 must click on the state in which they took the exam and select “Request Transcripts”. This will take them to the page where they can order extra GED transcripts.

We often get questions about the difference between the GED diploma and the transcript. So, let’s take a closer look.

The GED diploma is the certificate that your state issues when you have successfully completed the four GED modules (separate subtests). This document indicates that you have earned your high school equivalency credential.

The GED transcript is the official record of the four GED subject tests that you took, including your scores. Many universities and colleges require applicants to submit copies of their GED transcripts before they are admitted.

Usually, transcript orders will take around 1 or 2 days, but sometimes, it will take up to 2 weeks to get the process completed, so please be patient after you complete the GED test.

Online GED Testing

Qualifying students can take the GED test online as well. They must make sure that their Internet connection, computer, and webcam meet the requirements for online testing.

To qualify, applicants must have scored in the “Green Zone” on the GED Ready® practice tests, and the scores cannot be older than 60 days!

Online test-takers should log in to their GED.com account at least 30 minutes prior to their test appointment to launch their test.

Then, they must follow the clearly indicated on-screen steps and check in for their testing appointment, which includes verifying their workspace, I.D., and computer system.

An online proctor will monitor the test-taking process and guarantee that all happens in line with all requirements, just as would happen at official GED testing centers.

Online Testing Requirements

So now you can take the four GED subtests from the comfort of your own home while an online proctor will securely monitor the entire process. Online GED testing is available in both English and Spanish. Let’s look at some of the requirements.

• Your GED Ready score must be “green”
  Before you are allowed to take (one of the) GED subtests, you need to attain a score in the “green zone” on the GED Ready practice test within the last 60 days. This counts for all subject tests that you take online.
• Internet, computer, webcam
  You are required to have a reliable Internet connection and a computer with a webcam. You should run an extensive system test to be sure your system meets all of the requirements.
• Your workspace
  The room where you take the test must have 4 walls, closed doors, and be free of any distractions. If this is not the case, you will not be allowed to take the test.
• Government-issued ID
  When you check in for your online testing appointment, the proctor will verify your government-issued ID. Keep in mind that you are required to present an official photo ID.