Indiana's high school diplomas are about to get an overhaul

Indiana could soon offer fewer high school diplomas types, but the move is aimed at creating broader opportunities for students looking to prepare for college or jobs.

Students starting high school in 2018 would have three diploma options instead of four under a plan presented Monday — a “college and career ready” diploma, an “honors” diploma and a “workforce ready diploma.” Currently there are four diploma options: general, Core 40, Core 40 honors and career and technical honors diplomas.

The proposed new options are intended to be simpler.

Teresa Lubbers, the head of the Indiana Commission for Higher Education told the Indiana Career Council on Monday that she and others on a committee tasked with the project want to make sure students seeking any diploma experience as high a level of academic challenge as possible.

“The goal was really to ensure college and career readiness and academic rigor with the diplomas going forward,” Lubbers said. “I actually lost track of the number of drafts. It has to exceed 50.”

The process of changing the diplomas is far from over. The career council, Commission for Higher Education, education department and Indiana State Board of Education all must still sign off. Plus, the original diploma subcommittee will make a presentation before lawmakers later this summer.

The proposed new diplomas won’t look completely unfamiliar to Hoosier students and parents. The differences lie mainly in how the programs are structured, with some changes to credits and courses required.

For example, to earn the new diplomas, all students would be required to take a personal finance class and an introduction to college and careers class.

But essentially, the categories would serve the same purposes — a diploma for students going directly to jobs with no plans for college, one for students who do want to pursue higher education and an honors diploma.

Click on the tabs below to compare Indiana’s current and proposed new diplomas. You can see more details of both current and new diplomas on the education department’s website.

College and Career Ready diploma

Replacing Indiana’s Core 40 diploma is the College and Career Ready diploma. It would require students to take more core classes, especially in math and science. It also would allow students to specialize in an interest area — what it’s calling a “sequence.” That could be classes in fine arts, for example, career and technical education or many more.

Core 40 Diploma

  • English: 8 credits, including literature, composition and speech
  • Math: 6 credits, including Algebra I, Geometry and Algebra II
  • Science: 6 credits, including Biology, Chemistry and Physics
  • Social Studies: 6 credits, including U.S. History, U.S. Government, Economics and World History
  • Directed Electives: 5 credits in either a world language, find arts or career and technical education
  • Health and Wellness: 3 credits
  • Electives: 6 credits

Total: 40 credits

College and Career Ready Diploma

  • English: 8 credits, including literature, composition, speech and communications
  • Math: 8 credits, which could including Algebra I, Algebra II, Geometry, Technical Math, Trigonometry and Calculus
  • Science: 6 credits, including Biology, Chemistry, and Physics
  • Social Studies: 6 credits, including U.S. History, World History, U.S. Government and Economics
  • Health and Wellness: 3 credits
  • College and Career Readiness: 8 credits, including an introductory course, personal finance and a sequence that could include academic, career and technical and fine arts classes
  • Electives: 5 credits, noting that college-bound students should complete at least 4 credits in a world language

Total: 44 credits

State Superintendent Glenda Ritz said this would be the default track for all students as they enter high school.“Everybody is going to start out with the college and career ready diploma,” Ritz said. “That’s where we want kids to be.”

Indiana Honors diploma

Students looking for a greater challenge could take on the Indiana Honors diploma, which is a simplified version of the previous honors program that separated academic and career and technical honors. Students could still choose advanced classes in both areas, but general requirements, such as GPA and total number of credits, would remain the same.

Core 40 Honors diplomas

All the requirements of the Core 40 diploma, plus:

Additional requirements for academic honors 

  • Math: 2 credits
  • World Language: 6 to 8 credits
  • Fine arts: 2 credits
  • Grades of C or better
  • At least a 3.0 GPA

One of the following:

  • Earn 4 credits in two or more Advanced Placement classes along with exams
  • Earn 6 college credits
  • Earn two of the following: 3 college credit courses, 2 credits in AP courses with exams, 2 credits in International Baccalaureate courses with exams
  • Earn at least a 1750 on SAT reading, math and writing sections, with a minimum score of 530 on each.
  • Earn a 26 or higher on the ACT and complete the writing section
  • Earn 4 credits in IB courses along with exams

Additional requirements for technical honors

  • 6 credits in college and career preparation course and either a industry-recognized certification or 6 career pathway college credits
  • Grades of C or better
  • At least a 3.0 GPA

At least one of the following:

  • Any option from the academic honors list
  • On WorkKeys test, reach a level 6 in reading for information, level 6 in applied math, level 5 in locating information
  • On Accuplacer test, score at least 80 in writing, 90 in reading and 75 in math
  • On Compass tests, score at least a 66 in Algebra, 70 in writing and 80 in reading

Total: 47 credits

Indiana Honors Diploma

All of the requirements of the College and Career Ready Diploma plus these additional requirements:

Earn at least a 3.0 GPA with grades of C or better, plus two of the following:

  • Earn at least 4 credits with B grades or better in Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate classes, plus the corresponding exams
  • Complete 6 credits of a world language and 2 credits of fine arts
  • Earn 6 college credits with a B grade or better
  • Complete a work-related certification
  • Earn minimum ACT or SAT scores, to be determined by the Indiana Department of Education, admissions officers and the Indiana Commission on Higher Education

Total: 48 credits

Workforce Ready diplomaThe third proposed diploma option, known as the Workforce Ready diploma, is not meant for a majority of students, Lubbers said. Rather, it is supposed to help students who struggle academically prove to employers that they have finished a well-rounded academic program and have the skills for jobs.

“Close to 90 percent of kids get the college and career ready diploma or honors,” Lubbers said. “So we are talking less than 10 percent there.”

General Diploma

  • English: 8 credits, including literature, composition and speech
  • Math: 4 credits, including Algebra I or integrated math courses
  • Science: 4 credits, including Biology, Physical Science or Earth and Space Science
  • Social Studies: 4 credits, including U.S. History and U.S. Government
  • Health and Wellness: 3 credits
  • College and Career Pathway courses: 6 credits
  • Flex: 5 credits including ones involving workplace learning, dual credit or other academic subjects
  • Electives: 6 credits

Total: 40 credits

Workforce Ready Diploma

  • English: 8 credits, including literature, composition, speech and communications
  • Math: 6-8 credits, including Algebra I, Algebra II, Geometry, Math 10 and Technical Math
  • Science: 4 credits, including Biology
  • Social Studies: 4 credits, including U.S. History and U.S. Government
  • Health and Wellness: 3 credits
  • College and Career Readiness: 8 credits, including an introductory course, personal finance and a sequence that could include academic, career and technical and fine arts classes
  • Electives: 5-7 credits

Additional requirements: students must complete at least one of the following:

  • Complete an industry-recognized certification
  • Complete career experience, such as an internship
  • Earn 3 college credits

Total: 40 credits

Neil Pickett, a council member who works for IU Health, was unsure about the need for a modified general diploma. He said he thought employers might not necessarily be able to see the distinction between that and the college and career ready one.“You are increasing the rigor pretty significantly,” Pickett said. “I wonder if we ought to just not just encourage people to get the extra credits and have college and career ready degree.”

But Ritz said some students, especially those receiving special education services, will need the modifications. To be eligible for that diploma, students must have their parents and principal sign off, she said.

“You can’t just go on this track,” Ritz said. “But students with special needs, they might make decisions earlier on that. We wanted to make sure the special education students who were on a workforce-ready track were going to actually end up being able to end up in the workforce.”

All changes needed to be finalized by December, Ritz said, so the legislature can have advanced notice of what changes might need to be made to state law for the diplomas to go into effect in 2018.