New high school diploma options in Indiana emphasize personalized and work-based learning

What do you want your high school experience to be? What do you want to be prepared to do upon graduation?

Every young person may have slightly different answers to those questions, and Indiana legislators and education leaders say the time has come to offer diploma options that reflect the need for a more personalized approach. The result: a revamped set of graduation requirements that will take effect with the class of 2029, with schools able to opt in as soon as 2025-’26.

The Indiana Board of Education unanimously approved the new requirements in December, after a year of discussions and feedback from stakeholders. The General Assembly initiated the change with the passage of HB 1002 in 2023. In part, students will have the opportunity to earn one of six “readiness seals” depending on the graduation pathway they choose.

• The “enrollment honors” and “enrollment honors plus” seals focus on readiness for college. The requirements were developed in coordination with the Indiana Office of Higher Education. To earn the “honors plus,” students would need to complete 75 hours of work-based learning.
• The “enlistment honors” and “enlistment honors plus” seals signal a physical, mental and emotional readiness to join the military after graduation. To earn one of these seals, students would need to attain a certain score on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, complete a course in public service or a year in the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, meet school attendance goals, and take part in a mentorship experience.
• The “employment honors” or “employment honors plus” seals emphasize readiness for work. Students choosing this pathway would leave high school with a market-driven credential of value (for example, an industry-recognized certificate or even an associate degree) and will have completed at least 150 hours of work-based learning (“honors plus” requires 650 hours of work-based learning).

Along with directing state education leaders to develop a new diploma system, Indiana’s HB 1002 created new career scholarship accounts for students to take part in apprenticeships and internships or to attain industry credentials. The scholarship is up to $5,000 per student. The new graduation requirements further the goal of providing more work-based learning opportunities in high school.