The GED's lower passing score could mean as many as 25,000 more high school credentials

The GED Testing Service announced Wednesday that states can lower the minimum score required for students to pass the high school equivalency exam from 150 to 145. The move comes two years after a revamp made the GED more challenging, which caused pass rates to drop significantly. The adjustment is also an acknowledgement that some GED students who passed the tougher test did better in college than regular high-school students.

"'If high school performance starts to improve, we can adjust our cut scores as well, but we want to make sure we are holding adults to the same standards" as those required of regular high school students, GED Testing Service President Randy Trask told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. In Georgia, for instance, while 60 percent passed the old test, only 54 percent passed after the test was changed in 2014.

The testing service projects that if every state chooses to adopt the revised passing scores, an additional 100,000 students could retroactively pass one or more subjects of the test and another 25,000 could retroactively pass all four sections, making them eligible to receive their high school credentials. States will be able to independently decide if and when they want to retroactively grant passes.