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Within the pages of the state budget, North Carolina lawmakers passed legislation allowing high school students to graduate in three years instead of a traditional four years. 

The new law requires the State Board of Education to create a three-year plan course guide for students that lowers the graduation requirement of 28 credits to 22. 

Students who opt to graduate early would be required to take a sequence of courses to achieve 16 credits of core classes such as math, English language arts, social studies and science in addition to six credits of elective courses. 

Most schools in North Carolina require students to obtain 28 credits; however, some create plans that allow students to graduate early. 

This means, a student entering their junior year during the 2024-2025 school year or after could petition their principal and/or superintendent for an early graduation so long as they meet minimum requirements, are 16 by graduation and have parental consent.

“If your student has in fact finished all the years of social studies, all the years of math and science and ELA and finished personal finance and also finished other electives and it totals 22, at the mid-session of your junior year or likely at the end of your session of your junior year, you’d be eligible to graduate under this current law,” Dr. Matthew Cheeseman explained at the Dec. 12 Beaufort County Board of Education meeting. 

Cheeseman said “few students” have the potential to graduate early. “We do believe that it’s a very small amount of students in its current setting as sophomores right now that may be eligible for this. Mostly, they would graduate at the end of their junior year – some, very small amount might graduate December of their junior year or January of their junior year depending on what school they are in.” 

The new law also prohibits school districts from requiring students to achieve more than 22 credits. This is something school districts statewide, including Beaufort County, would like to see reversed with a technical correction. 

School districts have to wait for an answer on the correction until April 24 when the General Assembly convenes for the short session. 

At their regular board meeting on Dec. 12, the Beaufort County Board of Education discussed the new law and its disadvantages. A primary concern is that students would want to accelerate the rate at which they take classes, because they could be unprepared for more challenging classes. 

“If students take classes that maybe they’re not mature enough as far as – if it’s a very complicated calculus class – what you don’t ever want to see is the integrity of the class compromised, because the teacher is having to concentrate so much time on a student that may just not be ready for it…,” board member Carolyn Walker said. 

When a student graduates early, they are no longer eligible to participate in extracurricular activities, sports and are unable to receive school nutrition or counseling services.

Students who choose to graduate early and pursue a degree, diploma or certificate at a post-secondary institution will be eligible for “early graduate scholarships” based on financial need, according to the new law.