Retaking the GED: what each attempt costs, and when you can book it
A failed subject is not lost money: at a test center the next attempt is discounted. The cycle, the price and the wait depend on your state.
Attempt 2 of one subject
$20
No waiting period before this attempt.
| Attempt 1 | $46 |
| Attempt 2 | $20 |
| Total for this subject | $66 |
At a test center, each failed full-price attempt opens one discounted retake, used within 365 days; GED Testing Service waives its own fee and the center fee remains. Online retakes are full price. Fees from the Georgia page of ged.com, read on October 22, 2026.
Prepared by Radif Partners · Method · fees and rules read on ged.com and hiset.org on October 22, 2026
If you fail a GED subject at a test center, the next attempt of that subject is discounted: GED Testing Service waives its own share and you pay only what the state page lists, $10 in 26 states, nothing in Arkansas, District of Columbia and North Carolina, $20 in Georgia and South Dakota. The discount must be used within 365 days of the full-price attempt. After it, the next attempt is full price again, which opens another discounted retake: the cycle is one full price, one discount, and so on, until you pass. Texas, South Carolina and Rhode Island give two discounted retakes per full-price attempt. Online retakes are never discounted. Most states let you retake a subject twice with no waiting period and then ask you to wait 60 days after the third attempt; New York and Connecticut make you wait 60 days before any retake and cap attempts at three a year. On the HiSET, the second and third attempt of a subtest cost only the center fee. The calculator gives the price of your next attempt.
The cycle, in real prices
The table shows five attempts at one subject in four states, as the calculator computes them. At a center, a full-price attempt opens a discount; online, every attempt is full price.
| Case | Attempt 1 | Attempt 2 | Attempt 3 | Attempt 4 | Attempt 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Georgia, test center | $46 | $20 | $46 | $20 | $46 |
| Texas, test center | $36.25 | $16.25 | $16.25 | $36.25 | $16.25 |
| Texas, online | $42.25 | $42.25 | $42.25 | $42.25 | $42.25 |
| North Carolina, test center | $26 | $0 | $26 | $0 | $26 |
| California HiSET, test center | $34 | $14 | $14 | $34 | $14 |
In Georgia a subject costs $46 and its discounted retake $20. In Texas the second and third attempts are both discounted at $16.25, then the fourth is full price. In North Carolina the discounted retake costs nothing at all, so failing once at a center costs only time. The HiSET line shows its different rule: the full price returns only on the fourth attempt.
The price of your next attempt
Attempt 3 of one subject
$16.25
| Attempt 1 | $36.25 |
| Attempt 2 | $16.25 |
| Attempt 3 | $16.25 |
| Total for this subject | $69 |
Waiting periods
The usual rule at a test center is no waiting period for the first two retakes, then 60 days after the third attempt, with no yearly limit. Several states set their own: Connecticut, District of Columbia, New York, Vermont, West Virginia and Wyoming. New York and Connecticut ask for 60 days before any retake and allow three attempts a year. Washington, D.C. asks for 30 days before each of the first two retakes and a GED Ready score of Likely to Pass or Too Close to Call in the subject. West Virginia asks for 14 days, Wyoming for seven days between attempts. Online, ged.com allows one retake before a 60-day wait.
Is GED Ready worth it before a retake?
The official practice test costs $7.99 a subject, about the price of a discounted retake in most states. Its value is in the score report, which shows what to work on, rather than in the price comparison. Where the retake costs nothing, as in North Carolina, the main cost of failing is the wait and the study time. Where a retake is full price, as online, a $7.99 check before booking can save $36 or more. The GED Ready page works through this choice.
Retakes paid by the state
Mississippi pays every attempt at its test centers with the code MSRETAKE for retakes. New York pays all attempts. Most other state programs pay only the first attempt: Maryland says plainly that retests are not subsidized, and Pennsylvania’s code covers the first attempt of each subject. On the HiSET, Massachusetts and Mississippi pay two retakes per subtest. The free testing page lists every program.
Missed appointments and no-shows
A booked test you do not attend can cost an attempt. Florida’s page says that a no-show counts as a test attempt, Connecticut counts a missed test that was not cancelled at least 24 hours ahead, and New York makes you wait 60 days before booking a missed subject again. Cancelling or rescheduling in your ged.com account before the deadline avoids this. If you are unsure you will be ready, it is cheaper to move the appointment than to sit an attempt you expect to fail.
Planning the next attempt
Look at the score report before booking. A score a few points under 145 usually calls for targeted review of the weaker areas the report lists, while a score far below calls for a class or a longer study period. The timeline calculator adds your study weeks and the waiting periods of your state, and the score page tells you how far each subject is from passing and from College Ready. Booking the retake at a center rather than online keeps the discount; booking it within a few weeks keeps the material fresh.