AUGUSTA — Maine will offer a new high school equivalency exam in the place of the GED starting next year.

The Department of Education said on Monday that starting in 2014 Maine residents will be able to take the ETS high school equivalency test program, or HiSET. The department says it covers the same content as the GED exam.

The decision to switch to a new exam comes after concerns that GED costs were expected to increase substantially. The department says there were also worries that the GED’s new test would only be available on the computer. HiSET will be offered both as a computerized and paper-based exam.

Several other states, including New Hampshire, have recently switched to HiSET from the GED.

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