KIRKSVILLE, MO -- Some Heartland residents are starting off the new year on the right track to finishing up their education.

The Kirksville Area Technical Center held a GED orientation Monday afternoon.

Potential students were taking their entrance exams to help determine what level they should be placed in the GED Program.

Educators say that they are noticing bigger turnouts of young adults who realize that going back and finishing up their high school education is important to them to give them and their families a better life.

"It's very hard to have some kind of credential behind your name. A lot of them have realized once they gotten out into the working world that they need something in order to have then things that they want in life. So we are trying to get them in contact with many resources as possible that's going to get them what they need in life," said Adult Education/GED Program Director Tom DeBlauw.

The center says people can get their GEDs in a matter of a few weeks to at most a year.

The center will have another GED orientation in February.