Twenty-one credits to graduate, three credits of this, four credits of that. The Kansas Department of Education is putting in place new graduation requirements starting with the class of 2028.

The old requirements are a compilation of 21 total credits: three credits of science, four credits of English language arts, three credits of history and government, one credit of physical education, one credit of fine arts and six credits of electives. These are the same graduation requirements that countless Kansas highschoolers graduated with throughout the years.

The KSDE hasn’t changed the minimum graduation requirements in decades but after years of feedback from communities and businesses they found where the changes needed to happen and how. These include an addition of financial literacy and STEM courses in a student’s high school career. 

The new graduation requirements are still 21 total credits. The changes and modifications include: three credits of math, three credits of science, one credit of a STEM elective, 3.5 credits of English, 0.5 credit of communications, three credits social science, one credit of fine arts, 0.5 credits of PE, 0.5 credits of Health, 0.5 credits of financial literacy and 4.5 credits of electives. The Mentor Editorial Board varies in their opinions on the necessity of the change, but when asked “What needs to happen for this to be successful?” the answer was almost unanimous: the counselors need to ensure that the rising freshmen are fully informed of the requirements and what classes fall under each.

In March when eighth graders are spoken to about the upcoming year at the high school, they should be required to fill out a four-year plan and told exactly what classes at Manhattan High fall under each requirement for a lesser confusion when figuring out their next class or next step in high school.

The addition of credits in financial literacy, STEM and communication might leave some schools in need of new classes or even new teachers from the lack of offering for a class like that or to simply give students more options for classes that would interest them. 

The new graduation requirement will not be put into place until the current seventh graders, the class of 2028, starts high school. This allows schools more time to add classes, hire or train teachers and prepare students.