New York State is phasing out the Regents exam as a graduation requirement and moving to a competency-based diploma system. The Board of Regents adopted the New York State Portrait of a Graduate in July 2025, establishing six interconnected attributes as the foundation for future diploma requirements. Regents exams will no longer be required for graduation starting with the sunset of diploma assessment requirements by Fall 2027, though the exams will still be administered to meet federal ESSA testing mandates. Full competency-based implementation, where students must demonstrate proficiency in both learning standards and Portrait of a Graduate components, begins with the 2029 cohort. The plan remains subject to Board of Regents approval of regulatory amendments at each phase.
Timeline and key components
The NY Inspires plan, presented to the Board of Regents in November 2024, outlines four key transformations: adopting the Portrait of a Graduate, redefining credits to focus on proficiency, sunsetting diploma assessment requirements, and moving to a single diploma. The plan implements recommendations from the Blue Ribbon Commission on Graduation Measures, which reported in November 2023.
Under the proposed timeline, students in Cohorts 2024 through 2026 will continue to take Regents exams but will not need to pass them to earn a diploma. For Cohorts 2027 and 2028, a new credit requirement will include at least one credit in career and technical education, and no separate diploma assessment requirements will exist. The state will also introduce financial literacy and climate education requirements during the installation phase. For Cohort 2029 and beyond, students must demonstrate proficiency in both learning standards and the Portrait of a Graduate attributes. A statewide transcript will be required for all students.
The Portrait of a Graduate, formally adopted in July 2025, describes six attributes grounded in Culturally Responsive-Sustaining Education: critical thinking, communication, academic preparation, global citizenship, creativity and innovation, and reflection and future planning. The state will establish statewide performance standards, common rubrics, quality assurance processes, and accountability measures to ensure consistency across New York. Guidance for local implementation of the Portrait is expected by summer 2027.
How other states have approached competency-based graduation
New York's plan joins a growing number of states that have moved toward competency-based graduation requirements. Vermont requires all districts to adopt proficiency-based graduation requirements, where credits must be based on demonstrated proficiencies rather than time spent in learning. New Hampshire similarly requires credits to be awarded for achievement of competencies, not for seat time. The U.S. Department of Education's REL Central identified Maine and New Hampshire as advanced competency-based education states requiring all districts to use competency-based credits.
Virginia requires all students to demonstrate competency in critical thinking, creative thinking, collaboration, communication, and citizenship before graduating under a Profile of a Graduate framework. That model is narrower in scope than New York's and does not replace its standard diploma structure. Rhode Island requires students to complete at least one performance-based diploma assessment, and starting with the class of 2028, will require a performance-based diploma option showing mastery of applied learning skills. Connecticut requires a mastery-based diploma assessment and allows credit through demonstrated mastery. Indiana requires students to demonstrate employability skills through project-based, service-based, or work-based learning, and postsecondary-ready competencies through a menu of assessment or demonstration options.
New York's plan, which state officials described as first-in-the-nation, replaces the existing diploma structure and the Regents exam requirement. The state is moving toward a single diploma with competency-based elements, rather than maintaining a separate standard diploma pathway.
What the research says
The same Education Commission of the States policy scan found that 39 states plus the District of Columbia allow students to receive course credit based on competency. The policy scan categorized states by policy type but did not assess student outcomes. Only eight states had developed competency-based components in statewide graduation requirements or directed local school boards to develop their own.
An ERIC-indexed policy scan by the Education Commission of the States noted that while many states permit competency demonstrations, few have evaluated whether such requirements improve student outcomes, college readiness, or equity. The report stated that these policies create space for districts to employ more personalized approaches but did not provide evidence of effect.
KnowledgeWorks reviewed competency-based graduation requirements across multiple states and identified four consistent themes: expanding what students need to know and be able to do to graduate, grounding advancement in mastery rather than seat time, rethinking where and how requirements can be met, and balancing local control with state guardrails. That analysis was a policy scan, not an outcome evaluation, and does not provide evidence on whether competency-based graduation improves academic or postsecondary results.
The research base on the academic effects of competency-based graduation requirements remains limited. While many states have adopted such policies, the evidence on their impact on student achievement, equity, or college readiness is not yet established.