The state could stop using the Regents exams as a graduation requirement in January 2028 if the Board of Regents approves a plan outlined by the state education department.

“Starting in January 2028, so that’s the 2027-2028 school year, while Regents exams will be one of many ways for students to demonstrate mastery of the state's rigorous learning standards there will no longer be a separate assessment requirement to graduate high school,” Shannon Logan, director of standards and instruction for the New York State Education Department, said during a presentation Monday.

What You Need To Know

  • The state education department has been reconsidering graduation requirements since 2019

  • They are proposing to stop requiring students to pass Regents exams in order to graduate, starting with the exams given in January 2028

  • Students will have new options for showing their proficiency in the subjects they must learn to graduate

The state began to reconsider graduation requirements in 2019 — particularly the use of the Regents exams, given in individual subject areas and which students must pass to graduate. 

After five years of meetings and a blue ribbon commission, NYSED officials said in June they planned to end the requirement to take the exams. However, the timeline for doing so was not revealed until the Board of Regents meeting on Monday.

Critics have argued the exams are unreliable measures of whether a student is ready to graduate, and most states do not require similar tests.

“The regulatory amendment that will be presented on the board will be a response to thousands of requests form New Yorkers, and will bring New York into alignment with 40-plus other states who do not require the passing of end of course examinations to graduate high school,” Logan said.

The last exams required for graduation would be the ones offered in August 2027. Beginning in 2028, the exams would only measure student progress and to allow them to earn seals or endorsements on their diplomas. 

The state will also move to issuing one kind of diploma. It currently offers three, which are differentiated by how many exams students take and how they score.

Meanwhile, the state is developing what it calls the New York State Portrait of a Graduate, which it says will offer students more options to demonstrate their learning, including through projects or internships. That plan is still being finalized, but officials said they plan to present it for adoption at the end of this school year.

The changes to the Regents exam requirements are not final until the board votes on them, which is expected to happen in 2027.