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High School Graduation Requirements
A growing consensus among education experts indicates that the knowledge and skills high school graduates need to be successful in college are the same as those for a job that will pay enough to support a family above the poverty level, provide benefits, and offer clear pathways for career advancement through further education and training. Several states have recently attempted to improve high school students' preparation for college and work by aligning high school standards with the skills employers and colleges say are needed for success in their institutions.
Leaders in both education and economic policy agree that, in the coming years, all students will need some form of postsecondary education—technical certification, an associate’s degree, a four-year degree, or beyond—to prepare for a well-paying, secure job. Recent studies from ACT and the American Diploma Project find that the same skills are needed to succeed in freshman-level courses in two- and four-year colleges and for living-wage, entry-level jobs and careers. To be successful, all high school graduates need advanced reading, writing, communications and mathematics skills equivalent to four years of grade-level or honors English and math classes through at least Algebra II.
Many students and their parents are unaware that high school graduation requirements often differ from the requirements for admission to a four-year college or university. In addition, remediation rates among first-year students in both two- and four-year postsecondary institutions are high, suggesting that existing state and local graduation requirements are not adequately aligned with postsecondary expectations.
State Action
The most common criterion for awarding a high school diploma continues to be course requirements. More states recently have attempted to set high school requirements to ensure that graduates are prepared for success in college and the workplace. According to Achieve’s report, Closing the Expectations Gap 2008, 18 states and the District of Columbia have enacted policies requiring high school students to complete a college- and work-ready curriculum, 16 more than in 2005.
In 2005, Indiana approved the Core 40 as the default high school curriculum for all students. It becomes the state high school graduation requirement for the class of 2011, and in the fall of 2011 the Core 40 diploma will become an admissions requirement for public four-year colleges and universities in Indiana. Also in 2005, Oklahoma mandated that students complete English, math, science, social studies and other (choice of foreign language or computer science) requirements aligned with admissions requirements for Oklahoma public colleges and universities, effective with the class of 2010.
Eleven states that require high school students to complete a college- and work-ready curriculum allow parents to remove children from the standard course of study if they sign a waiver acknowledging the risks of studying a less rigorous curriculum. This allows students to take less rigorous courses and still earn a diploma. Seven states and the District of Columbia have no such provision; the course requirements are mandatory for all students.
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