Call Kurtis: Trouble Tracking Down GED Records

Trying to turn her life around, a Ceres woman decided to go back to school. But her dreams were nearly crushed when she couldn't get a hold of her GED records. She called Kurtis for help.

Charlotte Armstrong took the test 23 years ago but the state had no record of her scores. We learned other people looking for decades-old GED records may also have trouble proving they took the test.

"I was in the drug world a long time," said Armstrong, "I've been clean the last five or six years and I just decided, OK, new beginning, new life."

The new life for Armstrong includes going back to school, taking online college courses.

"I'm excited about it," said Armstrong.

It was a conditional enrollment, meaning Armstrong could enroll as long as she eventually produced her GED records. She took the test in 1989. But after making a number of phone calls, trying to track down her records, Armstrong says she got nowhere. She was in danger of getting kicked out of school.

"I was beside myself," said Armstrong.

So, where are her records? People looking for their GED scores are supposed to call Educational Testing Services, or ETS, the company the state uses to keep the records.

"If it's before July of 1990 that they're looking, it's kind of a hit and miss sort of thing," said Julie Koozer of the Stanislaus County Office of Education.

Koozer said people who took the test before that date had the option of buying their certificate, which is like a diploma. If they didn't buy it, and Armstrong didn't, chances are ETS doesn't have the records.

"They should always try ETS first. If they don't have any success, then they should go to their local testing center," said Koozer.

Armstrong took the test at Modesto Junior College, which isn't a testing center anymore. But after we made a few calls, we learned her records ended up at the Stanislaus County Office of Education.

"That was probably the happiest day of my life, right then and there," said Armstrong.

She got the scores and sent them to her university, just in the nick of time. Now she plans on buying her certificate.

"Oh yeah, I'm going to get my diploma. I'm going to get it, put it on that wall because it's going to tell me, 'See, you did do it,'" said Armstrong.

People who took the test after July 1990 didn't have a choice. The price of their certificate was built into the price of taking the test. So, ETS should have the scores on record.