NEW HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMAS IN THE WORKS

The Indiana Commission for Higher Education voted yesterday to approve proposed changes to Indiana’s high school diploma requirements, clearing the way for further consideration by the State Board of Education this fall and the Indiana General Assembly in the 2016 legislative session. Commissioner for Higher Education Teresa Lubbers says the goal is for all students to be successful in the next phase of their lives after graduation—whether that’s college, the workforce or post-secondary training.”

The changes are the culmination of more than a year of discussion and work by this group comprised of K-12, business and higher education stakeholders as well as input gathered from the public.

The College & Career Ready Diploma would replace the Core 40 diploma, the workforce ready diploma would replace the general diploma and the college and career ready diploma with honors would replace the academic and technical honors diplomas. There would be increased credit requirements for the college and career ready diploma and four years of math for each proposed new diploma. All students would be required to complete a college and career readiness sequence with a graduation capstone experience, and a personal financial literacy course would be required for all diplomas.

Once finalized and approved, Indiana’s new diplomas will go into effect beginning with students entering high school in 2018.