Graduation Requirements
All Orange County School students must meet minimum state graduation requirements to earn a diploma and graduate. These 22 graduation requirements are considered the Future-Ready Course of Study (FRC), and these requirements ensure that a student is prepared for options after high school.
Although North Carolina requires a designated number of courses and and credits for students to graduate high school, Orange County Schools strongly values the full high school experience and believes it is an opportunity for students to maximize academic success, explore extracurricular interests, and prepare for a variety of post-secondary options. Students in Orange County Schools typically take 8 courses each year in grades 9-12 and may earn as many as 32 credits, including additional Diploma Endorsements.
The Occupational Course of Study is available for those students with identified disabilities who are specifically identified for the program. The Occupational Course of Study has adapted course requirements and the same credit requirements as the Future Ready Course of Study.
Below are the specific graduation requirements for the Future Ready Course of Study.
Students entering ninth grade for the first time in 2021-2022 or afterwards must pass the following courses and earn at least 22 credits:Four sequential English credits which shall be:
- English I
- English II
- English III
- English IV
Four Mathematics credits which shall be either:
- NC Math 1, 2, and 3 and a fourth mathematics course to be aligned with the student’s post high school plans
- In the rare instance a principal exempts a student from the Future-Ready Core mathematics sequence, except as limited by N.C.G.S. §115C-81(b), the student will be required to pass: NC Math 1 and Math 2 plus two additional courses identified on the NC DPI Math options chart.
- Notes: A fourth-level mathematics course is required for UNC minimum requirements, this includes Math IV, Precalculus, and other higher level courses.
Three Science credits which shall be:
- a physical science course
- Biology
- an earth/environmental science course
Four Social Studies credits which shall be:
- Founding Principles of the United States of America and North Carolina: Civic Literacy
- Economics and Personal Finance
- American History
- World History
One Health and Physical Education credit:
- Students are required to successfully complete CPR instruction to meet Healthful Living Essential Standards as a requirement for high school graduation.
- Accommodations/alternative assessments for students identified by ADA or IDEA will be provided.
Two Elective credits of any combination from either:
- Career and Technical Education (CTE) or
- Arts Education or
- World Language
Note: For clarification, possible elective combinations may include 2 World Language credits; or 1 CTE credit and 1 Arts Education credit; or 2 CTE credits; or 1 Arts Education credit and 1 World Language credit; or other combinations from a, b and c.
Four Elective credits from the following (four-course concentration recommended):
- Career and Technical Education (CTE)
- Arts Education (e.g., dance, music, theater arts, visual arts)
- Any other subject area or cross-disciplinary courses (e.g., mathematics, science, social studies, English and dual enrollment courses)
NOTE: Beginning in fall 2022, students entering Grade 6 and subsequently entering Grade 9 for the first time in 2025-26 shall have at least one arts education course in grades 6-12.
- Students must complete the standard course of study (no local electives) for a given arts education course in its entirety to satisfy this requirement. After-school activities or partial courses do not fulfill this graduation requirement.
- Students who transfer into a public school unit beginning in the ninth grade or later may be exempt, if such a requirement would prevent a student from graduating with the graduation cohort to which the student was assigned when transferring.
NOTE: Students entering Grade 9 in 2026-27 will have an additional requirement to take a credit in Computer Science. Electives will be reduced from 6 to 5.