Far too many high school students aren’t fully prepared or equipped for success upon graduation.

A high school diploma should be a crucial step on the path to social and economic mobility, documenting that students are prepared for life after high school. Unfortunately, far too many high school students aren’t fully prepared or equipped for success upon graduation. In fact, in 2013, only 8 percent of high school graduates completed a full college- and career-preparatory curriculum. This staggering statistic reveals a deep problem in secondary education: What is taught in schools does not reflect what students need to be eligible for postsecondary education.

In order to remedy this college and career readiness problem, states should ensure that a high school diploma requires all students to take rigorous courses that are aligned with postsecondary institutions’ eligibility requirements. However, a 2018 report by the Center for American Progress found that most states do not meet this threshold. The report revealed that just four states—Louisiana, Michigan, South Dakota, and Tennessee—fully align their basic high school diploma requirements with those of their respective state four-year public university. What is more, only two of those states—Louisiana and Tennessee—also have a 15-credit college-ready course sequence requirement; that is, they require four years of English, three years of math up to algebra II, three years of lab science, three years of social studies, and two years of the same foreign language. Moreover, only one state—Delaware—requires at least three career and technical education (CTE) courses. Research shows that students who take a higher-level CTE course load are more likely to be employed and earn higher wages.

As a follow-up to CAP’s 2018 report on high school graduation requirements, this report investigates what laws or other policies states introduced in the past two years to address this issue. From these findings and subsequent analysis, three themes emerged. First, states have yet to tackle the big problem identified in this analysis: the failure to align state high school graduation requirements with postsecondary institutions’ eligibility requirements. Second, some states are integrating new subjects—most often CTE—into their graduation requirements. Third, states are establishing new diploma pathways or revising existing pathways. While these three trends are positive signs and point to state lawmakers’ recognition of the need to improve the rigor of their secondary school course offerings, they fall short of using state high school graduation requirements as a tool to ensure that students are both eligible and ready for college and career.

Given the importance of preparing students for the next step after high school, the requirements to receive a diploma are a critical lever for states to ensure that their citizens have access to opportunity and prosperity. Consequently, states must do more than just tweak at the margins; they should rethink how well their high school course sequence sets students up for success.