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DCHS COMMONWEALTH DIPLOMA

The Requirements for the Commonwealth Diploma

Awarded by the State of Kentucky

 

  1. Successful completion of at least 22 approved units of credit, including all minimum unit requirements for high school graduation set forth in 704 KAR 3:305 and any additional units specified by the local board of education.
  2. Successful completion of all minimum requirements of the Pre-college Curriculum established by the Council on Higher Education. Of the 22 credits required, 5 elective credits are required (3 rigorous) Recommended strongly: one (1) or more courses that develop computer literacy. Rigorous electives should have academic content at least as challenging as that in courses required in the minimum high school graduation requirements. These electives also should be in social studies, science, math, English and language arts, arts and humanities, foreign language, and, above the introductory level, in agriculture, industrial technology, business, marketing, family and consumer sciences, health sciences, and technology education and career pathways. Electives in physical education and health are limited to one-half unit each.
  3. Successful Completion (grade of “C” or higher) of at least 4 courses, as listed below, which qualify as Advanced Placement courses or as International Baccalaureate courses:

 

·         AP English

·         AP Science or AP Math

·         AP Foreign Language (level 4 or 5)

·         One additional AP course (elective AP/IB – which could be selected as an additional AP class from the areas above or another AP/IB course. A student can use a class not already used for the category as the additional elective).

 

  1. Completion of examinations in a least three (3) Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate subject areas without regard to score (i.e. three tests representing three of the four course areas – A student could choose to use math or science as an elective if that area is already covered. For example, exams could be AP English, AP Calculus, AP Biology – calculus covers the math/science category and biology is used as the elective).

 

Note: If a student scores an aggregate of 8 on three appropriately chosen exams, the state of Kentucky will reimburse that student the cost of three exams. Payment is in January after seniors graduate and scores are received in July. Payment is handled through KDE and the local district office. AP scores range from a low of 1 to a high of 5. Any combination of scores on three tests is acceptable for reimbursement provided the sum is 8 and the course area requirement is met.