High School Graduation

Credit and Regents Requirements

Diploma Types

New York State grants 3 levels of diploma:

Regents Diploma with Advanced Designation (advanced)
Regents Diploma (basic)
Local Diploma (most basic)

Honors: Add the attention-getting “with honors” to either Regents Diploma option if your average score for all required Regents exams is 90 or above.

Technical endorsement: Students enrolled in a Career and Technical Education program earn this endorsement to their diploma if they also complete an approved technical assessment, a work-based learning experience, and a work-skills employability profile.

Consult the charts below to learn about requirements for the various New York State diploma types. The information on this page is valid for students who started 9th grade in September 2001 or later.

Credits Needed to Graduate

Regents Diploma with Advanced Designation
Regents Diploma or Local Diploma

Regents Exams Needed to Graduate

All diplomas

Credit Requirements: Regents Diploma w/Advanced Designation

Total credits needed: 44 (distributed as shown in the chart below)

Except where noted, each credit represents one semester of successfully completed course work.

31 core credits (minimum)
English	8 credits
Social Studies	8 credits These include: 2 credits in U.S. History, 1 credit in Participation in Government, and 1 credit in Economics
Math	6 credits
Science	6 credits These include: One 2-credit course in life sciences, one 2-credit course in physical science, and a third 2-credit course in either life science or physical science; a minimum of 1,200 minutes lab time.
Health	1 credit
Arts (dance, music, theater, or visual arts)	2 credits
Plus these 13 additional credits:
Physical Education	4 credits (For this subject, a semester is valued at ½ credit.) Students who finish all other diploma requirements in fewer than 8 semesters may have this requirement reduced.
Sequence / Electives	9 credits These include: One 6-credit sequence in a foreign language (other than English) OR 2 credits of foreign language AND one 10-credit sequence in Career and Technical Education (CTE) OR 2 credits of foreign language AND one 10-credit sequence in the arts

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Credit Requirements: Local or Regents Diploma

Total credits needed: 44 (distributed as shown in the chart below)

Except where noted, each credit represents one semester of successfully completed course work.

31 core credits (minimum)
English	8 credits
Social Studies	8 credits These include: 2 credits in U.S. History, 1 credit in Participation in Government, and 1 credit in Economics
Math	6 credits
Science	6 credits These include: One 2-credit course in life sciences, one 2-credit course in physical science, and a third 2-credit course in either life science or physical science; a minimum of 1,200 minutes lab time.
Health	1 credit
Arts (dance, music, theater, or visual arts)	2 credits
Plus these 13 additional credits:
Foreign Language (other than English)	2 credits
Physical Education	4 credits (For this subject, a semester is valued at ½ credit.) Students who finish all other diploma requirements in fewer than 8 semesters may have this requirement reduced.
Sequence / Electives	7 credits

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Regents Exam Requirements

The information in the following chart applies to students who entered 9th grade in 2002 or later. If you started 9th grade on or before September 2001, the math requirements are somewhat different.

You do the math:

When looking at the chart below, compare the minimum passing scores needed for New York's most demanding general diploma (the Regents Diploma with Advanced Designation) to those CUNY uses to show readiness for college-level work.

Surprised?

Goal	Regents Exams required	Minimum passing score
Local Diploma	Math A 1 Science English Language Arts (ELA) 2 Social Studies	55 *
Regents Diploma	Same 5 as Local Diploma	65
Regents Diploma w/advanced designation	Same 5 as Local Diploma plus: Math B 1 more Science (one of the two must be Living Environment) a Language Other Than English	65
Placement into college-level classes at CUNY	English Language Arts (ELA) Math	75

*Students entering 9th grade in September 2005 must score at least 65 on any two exams and at least 55 on any three.

Math Regents Requirements for students who entered 9th grade on or before September 2001

Diploma	Math Regents Exam required	Minimum passing score
Local	Math A OR Sequential Math I	55
Regents	Math A OR Sequential Math I and II	65
Regents w/ advanced designation	Math A and B OR Sequential Math I, II and III	65

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