Graduation Requirements

Links to additional information:

IMPORTANT UPDATE ON CLASS OF 2021 GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS:

  • Our district, in accordance with CDE guidance, will delay the new graduation guidelines until the 2021-22 school year.  

    • The Board of Education will review a Graduation Requirements policy 6340 addendum recommendation on August 13 that requires the Class of 2021 to meet the credit requirements, but not the graduation competency requirements, as modified by CDE. Language from CDE follows.

      • State Board modifies graduation guidelines menu for 2020-21 school year

      • The State Board of Education at its regular monthly meeting granted districts flexibility with the state’s graduation options because of the disruption to learning and the cancellation or limited availability of several of the tests last spring. 

The state board’s action means schools and districts can use local assessments or grades to confirm students’ readiness for graduation in the 2020-21 school year. Full implementation of the state’s college and career ready graduation benchmarks for students are anticipated to continue for the 2021-22 school year.


Graduation requirements for the Class of 2021 and beyond

Credits needed Subject area
4 English
3 Math
3 Science
1 US History
0.5 US Government
1.5 Social Science
1 Physical Education (PE)
(no PE waivers) 
2 Fine & Practical Arts
7 Electives
23 Total*

*Students must also meet College and Career Compentency Requirements - demonstrating proficiency in ONE option for English and Math (see menu below)

Menu of Options English Math
ACCUPLACER 62 on Reading Comprehension
or 70 on Sentence Skills		 61 on Elementary Algebra
ACT 18 on ACT English 19 on ACT Math
ACT Workkeys - National Career Readiness Certificate Bronze or higher Bronze of higher
Advanced Placement (AP) 2 2
ASVAB 31 31
Concurrent Enrollment Passing grade per district and higher education policy Passing grade per district and higher education policy
District Capstone Individualized Individualized
Industry Certificate Individualized Individualized
International Baccalaureate (IB) 4 4
SAT: Scores update for new SAT (2016) 470 500
Collaboratively-developed, standards-based performance assessment State-wide scoring criteria State-wide scoring criteria

Higher Education Admission Standards (4-year college/university recommendations)

Recommended Number of Units Academic Area
4 English
4 Math (Math I/Algebra I & higher)
3 Science (2 labs)
1 US History
2 Social Science
1 World Language 
(more competitive schools recommend 2-3 levels of the same language)
2 Academic Electives 
(Math, Science, English, Social Science, World Language)
17 total (of the 23)

*Some colleges outside of Colorado may also recommend a full credit of Fine Arts (ex. University of California schools)