Ohio's Graduation Requirements

Class of 2018 and Beyond


Students who entered ninth grade for the first time in the 2014-2015 school year will follow graduation requirements for the class of 2018. This short video provides an overview of the new options for students to earn a high school diploma.

To earn a high school diploma, Ohio students must take and complete a minimum of 20 course credits and also choose from three options to show their readiness for college or career. 

OPTION 1 - Ohio's State Tests

Earning a minimum of 18 out of 35 points on the seven end-of-course state tests is one of the three options. Based on each test score, a student earns one to five graduation points.

Resources for the high school end-of-course exams are available here.

OPTION 2 - Industry Credential and Workforce Readiness

Here is the list of approved industry-recognized credentials that students in the class of 2018 and beyond can use to qualify for high school graduation. 

The Industry credential and workforce readiness option means that students must earn 12 points through a State Board of Education-approved, industry-recognized credential or group of credentials in a single career field and achieve a workforce readiness score on the WorkKeys assessment.

The WorkKeys assessment has three sections: reading, applied mathematics and locating information. Students in the Classes of 2018 and 2019 must earn a total of 13 points across the three WorkKeys sections; students in the Class of 2020 and beyond must earn a total of 14 points. Students must also earn at least three points on each section of the test.

OPTION 3 - College and Career Readiness Tests

One of the options that students may use to meet the test requirement for graduation is a college and career readiness test. The two tests that meet this option are the ACT and SAT. Colleges and universities use the ACT and SAT to determine student readiness for the rigors of higher education. These institutions generally expect that students who earn "remediation-free" scores will be able to succeed in their college courses. 

What are the remediation-free scores? 

ACT

English Language Arts

Mathematics 

Mathematics subscore of 22 (or higher)

SAT

English Language Arts

Mathematics 

Each student may use the highest score in each subscore from multiple administrations of a test to meet the student’s graduation requirement option. This would include the state-funded administration, which will be given to all Ohio students in the spring of their junior year and additional attempts that students take and fund through non-state resources during their academic careers.

Students who meet the remediation-free scores in all three subscore areas under a single test will meet the requirements for graduation under this option. These students will receive Ohio diplomas upon completion of the curriculum requirements.

Source: ODE

GradPath_2018beyond.pdf