New York Is Ending Regents Exams as a Graduation Requirement. What Comes Next Matters More.

Summary for Educators

Based on: Matthew Haag
Source: The New York Times
Date: September 14, 2026
Article: New York Moves Away from Regents Exams in Graduation Overhaul

THE BIG IDEA

New York is making one of the biggest changes to high school graduation requirements in generations.

On September 14, the New York State Board of Regents authorized the State Education Department to move ahead with a plan that will separate Regents examinations from the requirement to earn a high school diploma. Beginning with students graduating in January 2028, students will no longer have to pass a prescribed set of Regents exams to graduate. The state also plans to replace its current system of local, Regents, and Advanced Regents diplomas with one New York State high school diploma, while allowing students to earn additional seals and endorsements.

The Regents exams themselves are not disappearing. They will continue to measure achievement of state learning standards and, where required, satisfy federal assessment mandates. But passing them will no longer serve as the gatekeeper to graduation.

For school leaders, the most important question is therefore not whether the Regents are ending.

It is:

What evidence should convince us that a student is genuinely ready to graduate?

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• The class graduating in 2027 is effectively the last class operating under the traditional Regents graduation requirement. The new policy takes effect for students graduating beginning in January 2028.

• Students will still have to earn required course credits. New York currently requires 22 credits across English, social studies, mathematics, science, physical education, health, the arts, world languages, and electives.

• Regents exams are not being abolished. They will remain part of the state's assessment system and may still provide evidence of student mastery.

• New York will move toward one diploma. The separate Regents and Advanced Regents diploma designations will give way to one state diploma, supplemented by seals and endorsements recognizing additional achievement.

• What replaces the Regents as evidence of readiness is still being developed. State leaders envision broader ways for students to demonstrate learning, with greater reliance on local assessment strategies and competency-based approaches.

WHY IT MATTERS

For decades, the Regents exams answered one question very clearly:

Did this student meet a statewide academic benchmark?

The system was imperfect. A three-hour examination could become an obstacle for students who had otherwise successfully completed years of coursework, particularly some students with disabilities and other learners for whom standardized examinations presented disproportionate barriers. State officials say stakeholder feedback repeatedly identified diploma assessment requirements as a significant barrier to graduation.

But eliminating a requirement creates another challenge.

If passing a common state examination is no longer necessary, schools must make certain that a diploma still represents meaningful academic accomplishment.

That distinction is crucial.

The debate should not become a simplistic contest between those who favor Regents exams and those who oppose standardized testing. The real issue is standards versus evidence.

A school might demonstrate rigorous learning through a Regents examination.

It might also demonstrate it through a research paper, science investigation, portfolio, performance assessment, technical certification, capstone project, oral defense, or sustained body of high-quality student work.

The format can change.

The expectation should not.

LEADERSHIP ACTIONS

1. Don't lower expectations because the test requirement disappears.
A diploma should still mean that students can read complex material, write clearly, reason mathematically, understand science and history, and solve unfamiliar problems.

2. Begin discussing a local assessment strategy now.
Principals should bring teachers together to ask: What evidence would we trust as proof that a student has mastered our most important standards?

3. Develop common performance expectations.
If two teachers evaluate senior projects differently, graduation standards can quickly become inconsistent. Schools will need shared rubrics, exemplars, moderation processes, and professional calibration.

4. Preserve external benchmarks.
Regents results can remain valuable even when they no longer determine graduation. Leaders should resist abandoning useful comparative information simply because the exams are optional as diploma requirements.

5. Guard against credit inflation.
When course completion becomes even more important, principals must ensure that earning a credit signifies genuine mastery rather than simply attendance or assignment completion.

6. Create richer demonstrations of learning.
The transition offers an opportunity to expand capstone projects, portfolios, exhibitions, CTE credentials, research experiences, and authentic performance assessments.

LEADER REFLECTION

Imagine interviewing a graduating senior in 2029.

You ask:

“What did you have to demonstrate to earn your diploma?”

What would you want that student to say?

“I accumulated enough credits”?

“I completed enough assignments”?

Or:

“I proved that I could research a difficult question, analyze evidence, communicate clearly, solve problems, defend my thinking, and apply what I learned.”

New York's decision creates both an opportunity and a risk.

The opportunity is to replace a narrow graduation gatekeeper with richer evidence of learning.

The risk is that removing the gatekeeper could unintentionally make graduation less demanding.

Whether this reform ultimately strengthens or weakens New York high schools will depend less on the disappearance of the Regents requirement than on what schools build in its place.

Great schools should welcome multiple ways for students to demonstrate learning.

But they should remain uncompromising about one principle:

A diploma should represent demonstrated readiness—not simply time spent in school.

Original Article

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Prepared with the assistance of AI software OpenAI. (2026). ChatGPT (5.2) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com