NY to Phase out Regents Exams for High School Grads by 2027

NY state education officials announced today (Nov. 4, 2024) that the high school class of 2027 will be the last in New York who need to pass Regents exams to earn a high school diploma, the NY Daily News website reports. 

The projected timeline is part of a five--year plan presented to the board of Regents to rework graduation measures, including to drop high stakes tests as a requirement. Other changes would consolidate three types of diplomas into one , adjust credit requirements , and broaden the skills and knowledge students need to graduate. 

For a standard diploma, current students must pass at least four Regents exams and a state--approved assessment,and meet certain credit requirements. Research has found that requiring students to pass standardized tests to graduate provides little evidence of the tests' efficacy.

College Tuition Is Now Dropping

 The full cost of attending a public college is falling, rather than rising, after you adjust it for inflation, the USA Today website reports today (Nov. 1, 2024). 

The average net price in tuition and fees for an in--state student at a four--year public college has plummeted by 40% in a decade, after inflation, from $4,140 in 2014 --15 --to an estimated $2,480 in 2024--25,according to the College Board. 

The figures represent the average net price of college tuition and fees for a first--time student, after you deduct grants, scholarships, and other discounts and account for inflation. 

The full cost of attending public college is falling, too, although not so swiftly. The net cost of of in--state attendance , including room and board and other expenses, has declined from $23,050 in 2014 to $20,780 in 2024, after factoring in grants and inflation, the College Board found. 

"State governments have been reinvesting in higher education over the last decade,"ater a round of dramatic cuts in the Great Recession era, said Nicholas Hillman, a professor and expert on higher education finance at the University of Wisconsin --Madison. 

Tuition costs also vary widely from state to state. The least expensive state is Florida, the College Board reports, with average tuition and fees of $6,360 for in--state students. The most expensive is Vermont, with an average of $17,490.Nearly every state charges less in 2024 than it did in 2019, after inflation.