2005 California Education Code Sections 51420-51427 Article 3. High School Equivalency Certificates

51420.  The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall issue a
California high school equivalency certificate and an official score
report, or an official score report only, to any person who has not
completed high school and who meets the following requirements:
   (a) Is a resident of this state or is a member of the armed
services assigned to duty in this state.
   (b) Has taken all or a portion of a general educational
development test which has been approved by the State Board of
Education and which is administered by a testing center approved by
the Department of Education, with a score determined by the State
Board of Education to be equal to the standard of performance
expected from high school graduates.
   (c) Is at least 18 years of age or who would have graduated from
high school had he remained in school and followed the usual course
of study toward graduation.
51421.  (a) The superintendent may charge a one-time only fee,
established by the State Board of Education, to be submitted by an
examinee when registering for the test sufficient in an amount not
greater than the amount required to pay the cost of administering
this article and for the cost of providing all followup services
related to the completion of the general educational development
test.  The amount of each fee may not exceed twenty dollars ($20) per
person.
   (b) The examinee shall be responsible for submitting to the
Superintendent of Public Instruction all subsequent requests for
duplicate copies of the California high school equivalency
certificate and all requests to forward reports of the results of the
applicant's general educational development test to postsecondary
educational institutions.
51422.  Each scoring contractor shall provide the Superintendent of
Public Instruction with a set of results for each examinee who has
taken all or a portion of the general educational development test.
Each scoring contractor shall forward to the superintendent the fee
established pursuant to Section 51421 for each  examinee who has
taken the general educational development test.
51423.  The Superintendent of Public Instruction may provide for the
administration of the general educational development test to
persons confined to state or county hospitals or to institutions
maintained by state or county correctional agencies.
   Such agencies shall, upon request, reimburse the Superintendent of
Public Instruction in an amount sufficient to pay the cost of
administering the test.
51424.  The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall keep a
permanent record of California high school equivalency certificates
issued pursuant to this article.
51425.  A California high school equivalency certificate shall be
deemed to be a high school diploma for the purpose of meeting the
requirements of employment by all state and local public agencies in
this state.
51426.  The State Board of Education shall adopt rules and
regulations necessary to implement this article.
51427.  Pursuant to Section 16370 of the Government Code, there is
hereby authorized in the State Treasury a Special Deposit Fund
Account, which shall consist of fees that may be prescribed by
Sections 51421 and 51423.  All of the fees collected are hereby
appropriated without regard to fiscal year for the support of the
Department of Education to be used pursuant to this article.