High School Credits - How Do They Work?

  High school is the most challenging time to homeschool.  In the younger grades it is fairly easy to homeschool by simply following the laws for the state (Wondering what these are?  Look on your PHEA acceptance letter).  In high school parents have the additional challenge of meeting the requirements for graduation.
  South Carolina does not require students to pass an exit exam in order to graduation.  A student simply needs twenty-four credits.  A credit is equal to 150 hours of study in a subject.  So 150 hours spent studying Biology is one credit.  Students can also earn half credits in a subject (75 hours of study).  Counting every minute spent studying is not necessary - generally if a student finishes the book he earns one credit.
  Credits are given in five main subject areas: Math, English, Science, Social Studies and Foreign Languages.  Additionally student may earn credits for other areas of study as electives (Home Ec, Music, Art, etc..).  South Carolina has guidelines for how many credits a student should have in each subject, particularly if the student plans to attend college.  You can see a chart with the guidelines on our website.
  In our recent discussion of Saxon Math, we pointed out that the older Saxon textbooks are not rigorous enough to count as an honors credit.  South Carolina recognizes three levels of difficulty in high school level courses.  College Prep (CP) classes are the base level courses.  Honors are a step above that and must be shown to require a higher level of difficulty that College Prep (You can figure out if a course is honors by comparing your book to the state guidelines.  If the course follows the guidelines it is CP; if it requires more work then it is Honors).
  The last level is Dual Credit (DC) or Advanced Placement (AP).  These courses are college level courses taken during high school.  Dual Credit courses are taken at a college or university.  Advanced Placement courses are taught on a college level by an AP certified instructor, and a standardized exam is given at the end of the course.
  Because they are more difficult, Honors, Dual Credit and AP courses are weighted differently when we calculate the Grade Point Average (GPA).  The GPA is used to tell colleges at a glance how well your student did during high school.  The GPA is used by many college admissions offices as a basis for admission as well as being a deciding factor in many scholarships.  I won't go into a detailed discussion of GPA's here, but if you'd like more information, you can find it here.
  Homeschooling high school, and particularly making sure you understand and fulfill the graduation requirements can be challenging.  Working with families of high schoolers is a large part of what we do in the PHEA office.  If you have any questions please let us know.  And be sure to check out the high school section of our website - it has a lot of great information!