An Ohio diploma takes more than passing classes. Students in the class of 2023 and later need 20 credits, a competency score on two state tests or an approved alternative, and two diploma seals. Here is each piece, with the rules in state law.
Kate Carter
North Carolina students need 22 credits to graduate, and this year's freshmen are the first who must pass a computer science course. State law also bars local school boards from requiring extra credits. Here are the rules for each class, course by course.
Arthur Chen
The Board of Regents voted Monday to end the century-old exams as a diploma requirement after the class of 2027 and to collapse three diploma types into one. Rules are due in February and a vote in June. Critics say the state is tearing down the measuring stick before it has built a new one.
Mary Johnson
Most states land between 20 and 24 credits, but the number on your child's transcript is set by the district, not the state, and the two are rarely the same. Here is what a credit actually is, what states require, and why the district number is the one that counts.
Kate Carter
Pennsylvania is unusual: the state does not hand you one credit number. Districts set the credits, and the statewide requirement is Act 158, which gives every student five different pathways to a diploma, with the Keystone Exams at the center of two of them.
Kate Carter
Georgia asks for 23 units, including four years each of math and science, more than most states. There is no exit exam anymore, but the HOPE and Zell Miller scholarships set a separate, higher bar. Here is the full breakdown.
Kate Carter
California sets a course-based state minimum to earn a diploma, but your district almost certainly requires more, and the A-G pattern for UC and CSU is a separate thing entirely. Here is what the state actually mandates, what is changing this decade, and how to read your own district's rules.
Kate Carter
Graduating high school in the US comes down to credits, a required course mix, and a shrinking list of exit exams. Here is how the pieces fit together, what varies by state, and the newer requirements that older siblings never had to meet.
Kate Carter
