GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS

Following are both the lists from the South Carolina Department of Education and the Commission on Higher Education depicting the differences in the credits recommended to graduate from high school.  It is imperative to plan with your students future in mind.  If you think they will go to college or technical school at any point after graduation, immediately or in the future, please plan their courses accordingly.

College Preparatory Course Prerequisite Requirements 

For Entering College Freshmen Beginning in Academic Year 2019-20

FOUR UNITS OF ENGLISH: All four units must have strong reading (including works of fiction and non-fiction), writing, communicating, and researching components. It is strongly recommended that students take two units that are literature based, including American, British, and World Literature. 

FOUR UNITS OF MATHEMATICS: These units must include Algebra I, Algebra II, and Geometry. A fourth higher-level mathematics unit should be taken before or during the senior year. 

THREE UNITS OF LABORATORY SCIENCE: Two units must be taken in two different fields of the physical, earth, or life sciences and selected from among biology, chemistry, physics, or earth science. The third unit may be from the same field as one of the first two units (biology, chemistry, physics, or earth science) or from any laboratory science for which biology, chemistry, physics and/or earth science is a prerequisite. Courses in general or introductory science for which one of these four units is not a prerequisite will not meet this requirement. It’s strongly recommended that students desiring to pursue careers in science, mathematics, engineering or technology take one course in all four fields: biology, chemistry, physics, and earth science.

TWO UNITS OF THE SAME WORLD LANGUAGE: Two units with a heavy emphasis on language acquisition. 

THREE UNITS OF SOCIAL SCIENCE: One unit of U.S. History, a half unit of Economics, and a half unit of Government are required. World History or Geography is strongly recommended. 

ONE UNIT OF FINE ARTS: One unit in appreciation of, history of, or performance in one of the fine arts. This unit should be selected from among media/digital arts, dance, music, theater, or visual and spatial arts. 

ONE UNIT OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION:  One unit of physical education to include one semester of personal fitness and another semester in lifetime fitness. 

TWO UNITS OF ELECTIVES: Two units must be taken as electives. A college preparatory course in Computer Science (i.e., one involving significant programming content, not simply keyboarding or using applications) is strongly recommended for this elective. Other acceptable electives include college preparatory courses in English; fine arts; foreign languages; social science; humanities; mathematics; physical education; and laboratory science (courses for which biology, chemistry, physics, or earth science is a prerequisite). 

NOTES 

1. Foundations in Algebra and Intermediate Algebra may count together as a substitute for Algebra I if a student successfully completes Algebra II. No other courses may be substituted for the three required mathematics courses (Algebra I, Algebra II, and Geometry).

2. Each institution may make exceptions in admitting students who do not meet all of the prerequisites, limited to those individual cases in which the failure to meet one or more prerequisites is due to circumstances beyond the reasonable control of the student.

3. The College Preparatory Course Prerequisite Requirements are minimal requirements for four-year public college admission. Therefore, students should check early with colleges of their choice to plan to meet additional high school prerequisites that might be required for admission and to prepare for college entrance examinations.

4. Students should prepare themselves for college-level work by taking or enrolling in challenging high school courses, such as honors and dual enrollment courses.

-South Carolina Commission on Higher Education