Indiana education officials green-light high school diploma overhaul

Indiana’s high school diploma came one step closer to a total revamp on Wednesday after state education officials approved a redesign plan that has been months in the making.

Paramount to the new plan is maximized “flexibility” for students to personalize learning pathways and experiences, including with college courses taken while still in high school, as well as the ability to count internships, apprenticeships, military experience and other work-based learning toward their graduation requirements.

A first draft of the diploma model was made public in March. Input from Hoosier educators, parents, students, higher education institutions, business officials and other stakeholders helped drive the several other iterations of the plan that followed since.

Indiana’s State Board of Education approved the latest version of the redesign during its December meeting in Indianapolis. The diploma rule now heads to the state attorney general for final sign-off.

“This has been, gosh, an all-hands-in-the-circle effort to get to this place,” Indiana Secretary of Education Katie Jenner said at Wednesday’s board meeting. “This has certainly been a long time coming for the board. We have spent hours and hours and hours listening to the many comments and ideas and solutions, from many Hoosiers around our state. We were absolutely able to improve the draft from the end of March … to today. On behalf of the board, we cannot thank Hoosiers around the state enough for joining … for really helping us get to a great place today for the future of Indiana students.”

Under a law passed by Indiana legislators in 2023, the state must adopt new diploma requirements by December.

But there have been bumps in the road.

Earlier redesign drafts faced multiple rounds of critiques from Hoosier educators, who worried that the model would broadly exclude certain course requirements, like those in history, foreign language and fine arts. Officials at multiple Indiana colleges and universities had also warned that the previously proposed high school diplomas would not meet university admission requirements

Jenner emphasized that the state board took those criticisms to heart and made adjustments to the diploma plan, accordingly. More than 9,400 online public comments were submitted during the drafting process. Hundreds more attended in-person feedback forums.

In doing so, many of the concerns have since been reversed. The final model approved by the board is supported by all of Indiana’s public colleges and universities, as well as more than a dozen state education associations.

“This was really hard, messy, sometimes unpopular work, but where it landed is a really, really, really good place for kids,” said board member B.J. Watts. “This was really good work … you invoke change here.”

A ‘totally updated’ high school experience

The overhaul has been pitched by state officials as a way to boost Indiana’s dismal college-going numbers, but more critically, to also ensure that all Hoosier students—college-bound or not—graduate from high school with high-value, work-ready skills.

“Fewer Indiana students are enrolling in higher education, and few are graduating,” Jenner said, adding that many Hoosier high schoolers overall “are graduating without the skills needed to secure some rewarding career opportunities.”

In the first draft of the diploma redesign—released earlier this year—high school students in public and private schools across Indiana would have earned a “GPS Diploma” or “GPS Diploma Plus.” That plan was scrapped, however, following waves of criticism from Hoosier teachers, parents and students.

The second diploma structure, unveiled during a State Board of Education meeting in August, included a baseline diploma, with minimum requirements for all students.

The baseline differs slightly from the current Core 40 diploma, requiring 42 credits instead of 40. Students would then have flexibility to choose classes above that to earn “readiness seals” for enrollment, employment or enlistment that correspond with their future path of continued higher education, workforce or military service.

Depending on the type of schedule a student is on—traditional seven periods or blocks—they can earn between 56 and 64 credits.

The final diploma plan also included several other tweaks.

The “honors enrollment seal,” for example, now permits students to meet college credit requirements with a blend of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and Cambridge courses—rather than having to pick just one of those options.

Additionally, students will no longer be required to pass an AP exam in order to meet the high school diploma requirements. Jenner said that change was necessary because the College Board, which administers the exams, is not able to provide test scores until mid-summer, sometimes months after a student graduates.

Other changes made in recent months to the enrollment and employment seals reduced the required work-based learning hours—from 100-hour increments to 75 hours—to better adhere to Indiana’s existing CTE framework, Jenner said.

The final diploma model does not explicitly require students to take foreign language or fine arts classes, despite pushback from some Hoosier students and teachers who said such courses should be mandated for graduation.

Jenner emphasized that coursework in those areas—while beneficial and encouraged—were not required before. Still, she said the new diploma options will provide students more flexibility to fit those classes in their schedules, and chances to participate in work-based learning aligned to their career interests.

“I strongly encourage you to consider locally-created pathways for those students who are interested in the arts,” Jenner advised local officials. “That has proven successful in other schools. We’d love to see more opportunities there.”

The education secretary further assured that resources, like an interactive advising tool, are on the way for school counselors who will largely be tasked with implementing the diploma changes and guiding students’ choices. Jenner said the state education department expects to work with Indiana lawmakers in the 2025 session to earmark additional funding for the overall redesign rollout.

More preparation for military pathways

New diploma options are also intended to open doors for more Hoosier students to serve in the military post-graduation.

“We have students who dream of serving our country who are finding out they’re disqualified when it’s too late,” Jenner said.

“Enlistment and service” seal options prepare and put students on track to enlist after high school, qualify for ROTC in college, or attend a service academy.

State officials pointed to national data, which showed that 2022 was the worst recruiting year in the history of the military’s all-volunteer force.

Enlistments from Indiana declined by 41% from 2018 to 2022, Jenner noted. Indiana National Guard enlistments over the same period declined 38%.

“Our goal is not to push students to one path or another, to funnel them all to one place,” Jenner said. “Our goal is to do the best we can, to set our students up for success — success based on their unique goals and aspirations. And if they want to serve our country, let’s figure out how to make sure they know that recipe much earlier.”

Gen. R. Dale Lyles, head of the Indiana National Guard, was among the high school redesign’s supporters. Lyles, along with other National Guard officials, helped craft the new service-focused seals.

“This will open the aperture and provide opportunities for young men and women to serve their country post-graduation, without getting the news after graduation that they’re not eligible to serve without doing some year-long thing to get them ready,” Lyles said during Wednesday’s meeting. “I think this will open the aperture, and it’ll provide an opportunity for those to serve that want to serve, because I hear a lot from people around around the state … ‘I wish I’d have had the opportunity.’”