Which States Still Require an Exit Exam to Graduate High School (2026) — And What "Repealed" Actually Means
Twenty-seven states once required a student to pass an exam before they could be handed a diploma. 6 still do. Two have just stopped, and the way they stopped is the single most misunderstood thing in this subject — because in both, students still sit the test.
This page is a reference, not an argument. Every line below was read from the state that sets the rule — a department of education, a state board, or the regulation itself — and the source is named against each one. Where we have not read it at source, the state is not here.
First, two different things that keep getting mixed up
| Exit exam | Credit by exam | |
|---|---|---|
| What it does | A gate. Fail it and there is no diploma. | An accelerator. Pass it and you skip the course. |
| Who it affects | A student who is stuck | A student who wants to move faster |
| How many states | 6, and falling | Nearly all of them, under a dozen different names |
They are both “a test for credit”, which is why they blur together. They are opposites. The rest of this page is about the first one; Texas, which has both, is at the foot.
The 6 states that still require it
| State | What must be passed | If a student does not |
|---|---|---|
| Texas Class of 2026 | Five STAAR end-of-course assessments: Algebra I, English I, English II, Biology and U.S. History. TEA: "Students must pass five end-of-course assessments to meet the testing requirements for graduation." | An individual graduation committee may award a diploma to a student who has failed no more than two of the five. Made permanent by HB 1603 (2021). |
| Florida Class of 2026 | The B.E.S.T. Algebra 1 EOC assessment and the grade 10 FAST ELA assessment, at Level 3 or above. | Concordant scores on the SAT or ACT for the ELA requirement, and comparative scores for the Algebra 1 requirement. |
| Louisiana Class of 2026 | One assessment in each of three subject pairs, under Bulletin 741: English I or English II; Algebra I or Geometry; and Biology or Civics. | The third pair changed for students entering high school in 2024-2025 and after: it was Biology or U.S. History for earlier cohorts. |
| Ohio Class of 2026 | A competency score of 684 on both the English language arts II and Algebra I (or Integrated Math I) end-of-course tests. | After remediation and a retake, four other routes: College Credit Plus, ACT or SAT, career experience and technical skill, or military enlistment. |
| New Jersey Class of 2026 | The New Jersey Graduation Proficiency Assessment, taken in grade 11, at 725 or above in both ELA and mathematics. Cut scores approved by the State Board on 3 May 2023. | Substitute competency tests (for example ACT Math 17, SAT Math 440, PSAT10 Math 420, Accuplacer Elementary Algebra 49), or a portfolio appeal in grade 12. |
| Virginia Entered grade 9 in 2018-2019 or later | Five verified units of credit for a Standard Diploma — two in English, one in mathematics, one in laboratory science and one in history and social science — alongside 22 standard units. | A verified credit is earned by passing the course and its SOL end-of-course test, or a substitute assessment approved by the Board of Education. |
One footnote worth having
Virginia. The rule moved: 8VAC20-131-51 was repealed on 25 September 2024 and the requirement now sits at 8VAC20-132-51. The requirement carried over; only the citation changed.
Credit by Examination asks for 80% with no prior instruction. Full-length mock exams written to the same TEKS the exam is drawn from — Algebra 1, Geometry, Biology, Chemistry and more.
See the subjects →
Every subject has free practice questions with the full worked solution. Take some and see whether they look like the exam your district set.
See the subjects →
Every Credit by Examination window we have verified from a district's own calendar — 22 districts, 75 windows, each with the source it came from.
See the deadlines →
Not a guess at what might be on it. Full worked solutions and timed mock exams built to the same TEKS the Credit by Examination is written against.
Browse the subjects →The two that stopped — and what that did not mean
Massachusetts — Class of 2025 onward
Repealed by ballot: Question 2 passed on 5 November 2024 with 58.9% in favour, effective 5 December 2024, first applying to the class of 2025.
What replaces it: A district certifies that the student has completed coursework showing mastery of the state standards in the areas the MCAS high school tests measured.
New York — Requirement ends in 2027-2028
The Board of Regents set the timetable; the framework was approved on 14 July 2025.
What replaces it: A new framework, the "portrait of a graduate", replaces it and is fully phased in by 2029-2030. Students entering grade 9 in autumn 2027 are the first cohort under the new credit rules.
The part almost everyone gets wrong: in both states students still take the tests. Massachusetts is explicit — “Participation in the MCAS is required by federal and state law and the ballot question did not change this requirement.” New York is the same: under federal rules students sit the exams, they simply no longer need a passing score. What was repealed is the gate, not the test.
What this means if you are choosing where to look
Three practical readings of the table above.
- The requirement is not one thing. Ohio wants a number (684). New Jersey wants a number (725) on one assessment taken in a single grade. Virginia wants five verified credits spread across four subjects. Louisiana lets a student choose one test from each of three pairs. Comparing them as “exit exams” hides how differently they behave.
- Almost every state has a second route. SAT and ACT substitutes, portfolio appeals, committee review, career and military pathways. A student who has failed a test has usually not run out of options — but the routes are specific and they have deadlines.
- The cohort matters more than the year. Several of these rules key off the year a student entered grade 9, not the year they graduate. Louisiana's third subject pair and Virginia's credit counts both work this way.
Texas is the state with both
Texas keeps its exit exam while others drop theirs — five STAAR end-of-course assessments, with an individual graduation committee for a student who has missed no more than two of them.
It also runs the other kind of exam entirely: Credit by Examination, which is how a Texas student earns credit for a course without taking it. Two separate systems, both called “testing”, pulling in opposite directions:
- STAAR EOC — a gate. Required for the diploma. 80% is not the bar here; passing standards are set per assessment.
- Credit by Examination — an accelerator. Optional. 80% without prior instruction (Texas Education Code §28.023), 70% with prior instruction (19 TAC §74.24).
A family that confuses the two ends up preparing for the wrong test. If you are in Texas and the question is “can my child skip a course”, that is Credit by Examination, and the dates are set by your district rather than the state.
Related guides
- Texas CBE district portal — testing windows and deadlines by district
- Complete guide to Texas Credit by Exam
- Texas CBE passing scores and retake rules
- Testing out of Algebra 1, state by state
How this page is maintained
The table is held as data and this page is generated from it, so a change to one state does not mean rewriting the article — and so we can tell, later, exactly which line moved. Each state carries the date we last read it at source.
Fifteen further states are commonly listed as having dropped a graduation exam at some point. We have not confirmed the year and mechanism for each of them at source, so they are not named here. We would rather publish a short list we can stand behind.
Sources
- Texas — Texas Education Agency — High School Graduation Requirements. Read 9 August 2026.
- Florida — Florida Department of Education — Graduation Requirements for Statewide Assessments. Read 29 June 2026.
- Louisiana — Louisiana Department of Education — high school assessment requirements (Bulletin 741). Read 9 August 2026.
- Ohio — Ohio Department of Education and Workforce — Demonstrating Competency. Read 9 August 2026.
- New Jersey — New Jersey Department of Education — Class of 2026 Graduation Assessment Requirements. Read 9 August 2026.
- Virginia — Virginia Administrative Code 8VAC20-132-51. Read 9 August 2026.
- Massachusetts — Massachusetts DESE — Update on Student Competency Determinations. Read 9 August 2026.
- New York — New York State Board of Regents — graduation measures framework (approved 14 July 2025). Read 9 August 2026.
Texas CBE™ is an independent preparation service and is not affiliated with any state education agency or school district. Requirements change; confirm with your state or district before relying on a date or a score.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which states still require an exit exam to graduate in 2026?
Did Massachusetts really get rid of the MCAS?
When do New York students stop needing to pass Regents exams?
What does Texas require?
Is an exit exam the same as credit by exam?
- Texas — Texas Education Agency — High School Graduation Requirements
- Florida — Florida Department of Education — Graduation Requirements for Statewide Assessments
- Louisiana — Louisiana Department of Education — high school assessment requirements (Bulletin 741)
- Ohio — Ohio Department of Education and Workforce — Demonstrating Competency
- New Jersey — New Jersey Department of Education — Class of 2026 Graduation Assessment Requirements
- Virginia — Virginia Administrative Code 8VAC20-132-51
- Massachusetts — Massachusetts DESE — Update on Student Competency Determinations
- New York — New York State Board of Regents — graduation measures framework (approved 14 July 2025)
