After 161 years, New York State will no longer require Regents exams to graduate.
The change is part of the NY Inspires initiative, which aims to reform diploma requirements for high schoolers across the state. The decision has drawn mixed feedback, with some noting it gives students alternate ways to demonstrate what they have learned, while others feel there is little information about what will replace Regents exams.
Jeff Smink, deputy director of The Education Trust-New York, said it does not address larger fundamental education issues.
“Way too many of our students are not reading at grade level; they don’t have foundational math skills. Over half of our students don’t have those foundational skills in the eighth grade,” Smink explained. “Our big concern is simply changing or getting rid of Regents exams is not going to address that, and fundamentally, that’s the issue.”
Data show New York’s graduation rate was 85% in 2025, yet only slightly more than half of students passed the Algebra 1 Regents exam. The 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress finds only 31% of eighth graders in New York were proficient in reading and only 26% were proficient in math.
Other education advocates are grateful the Regents are going away, since there they said there is no evidence exit exams increase student achievement or boost the value of a high school diploma.
Sarah Part, senior policy analyst for Advocates for Children of New York, said decoupling the exams from graduation requirements and moving toward alternatives like performance-based assessments will help teachers create engaging learning environments.
“I think a lot of teachers feel a lot of pressure to get kids over the passing score on the Regents exam and that affects what and how they teach as far as the material they need to get through over the course of the year, not being able to go as in-depth or to be able to dig into individual students’ interests,” Part pointed out.
Under the Board of Regents implementation plan, students graduating in 2028 will no longer be required to pass Regents exams to graduate. The State Department of Education will propose regulatory amendments by February 2027 to shift to a single statewide high school diploma in the 2027-28 school year. However, students will still have to take Regents exams to meet federal Every Student Succeeds Act requirements.
Edwin is a reporter and producer in North Tonawanda, New York. He’s previously reported for the Niagara Gazette and the Ithaca Times. Edwin got an early start in radio interning for WBFO-88.7FM, NPR’s Buffalo affiliate. In 2018, he graduated from SUNY Buffalo State College with a B.A. in Journalism, and in 2022, graduated from Syracuse University with an M.S. in Communications.