Louisiana Micro-School Graduation Requirements: What You Set and What the State Requires

One of the genuine freedoms of running a Louisiana micro-school is that you set your own graduation requirements. The state does not dictate a specific course list or credit count for nonpublic schools that don't seek state approval. But this freedom comes with a practical problem: if you set requirements that fall short of what TOPS scholarship rules, Louisiana university admissions, or out-of-state college applications require, your students pay the price.

The workable approach is to layer the requirements—start with what the state mandates (minimal), build up to what TOPS requires (specific), and confirm compatibility with where your students plan to go to college.

What Louisiana State Law Actually Requires

For a Nonpublic School Not Seeking State Approval, Louisiana law requires:

• A minimum 180-day academic year
• Instruction in English language arts, mathematics, social studies, and science
• Attendance record-keeping

That is it. The state does not specify a credit count, a GPA minimum, or any particular course sequence. A micro-school could technically graduate a student after two years with minimal coursework and issue a diploma—though doing so would harm that student's future options significantly.

For BESE Home Study students, the graduation requirements are also set by the parent, but the annual assessment requirement means there is ongoing documentation of progress.

What TOPS Requires for Graduation

If your students plan to pursue TOPS, your micro-school's graduation requirements need to cover the Core 4 curriculum. This is the de facto graduation standard for any Louisiana micro-school with college-bound students:

English — 4 credits:

• English I (grammar, composition)
• English II (composition, literature)
• English III (composition, American literature)
• English IV (composition, British or world literature)

Mathematics — 4 credits:

• Algebra I
• Geometry
• Algebra II
• One higher-level math (Pre-Calculus, Calculus, Statistics, or equivalent)

Science — 4 credits:

• Biology (with lab component)
• Chemistry or Physics (with lab component)
• Two additional sciences (Earth Science, Environmental Science, Physics II, AP Biology, etc.)
• At least 2 of the 4 must include a lab component

Social Studies — 4 credits:

• World History or World Geography
• US History
• Civics or American Government (0.5 credit)
• Economics (0.5 credit)
• One elective social studies credit

Foreign Language — 2 credits:

• Two years of the same language (Spanish, French, Latin, ASL, etc.)

Computer Science — 0.5 credit

Health — 0.5 credit

Total Core 4 credits: 19.5

Most Louisiana micro-schools set a graduation requirement of 24 total credits, with the Core 4 as the foundation and the remaining 4.5 credits as electives (arts, physical education, additional sciences, or enrichment courses specific to the pod's focus).

What Louisiana Universities Require

Louisiana public universities use a separate admission standard called the Regents Core Curriculum. It closely mirrors TOPS Core 4 but has some variations:

• English: 4 units (same as TOPS)
• Math: 4 units — must include Algebra II or higher; Calculus or Statistics preferred for selective programs
• Science: 4 units including 2 lab sciences (same as TOPS)
• Social Studies: 4 units (same as TOPS, including Government and US History)
• Foreign Language: 2 units of same language (same as TOPS)
• Computer Science: 0.5 unit
• Fine Arts: 1 unit (this differs from TOPS — universities want it, TOPS doesn't require it)
• Health/PE: 0.5 unit

The main additions for university admissions over TOPS: a fine arts credit and the expectation of Calculus or Statistics for STEM-bound students.

If your micro-school is TOPS-aligned, you are already meeting Regents Core Curriculum requirements with the addition of a fine arts elective. Building fine arts into your graduation requirements is a simple way to satisfy both standards simultaneously.

The GPA Question

Micro-schools set their own GPA scales. The standard four-point scale (A=4.0, B=3.0, C=2.0, D=1.0) is the default that university admissions offices and LOSFA both understand without explanation.

Weighted GPA adds complexity without reliable benefit. If a pod founder assigns a 5.0 to AP-equivalent courses, admissions offices will typically convert to unweighted for comparison purposes anyway. LOSFA uses unweighted GPA for TOPS eligibility. A clean, unweighted 4.0 scale with rigorous coursework is more defensible than an inflated weighted GPA from courses that lack external validation.

Setting Your Diploma Policy

A diploma issued by a nonpublic school is a private document. It carries the weight the micro-school's record-keeping, transcript quality, and course rigor give it. There is no state seal, no registrar validation, no LDOE stamp.

What makes a micro-school diploma credible:

1. A consistent, documented graduation policy stated in writing (in the parent-school agreement or pod policy document) and applied the same way to every student
2. A transcript that accurately documents every course, credit, and grade
3. An ACT score on file—a 20+ composite is the single most portable evidence of academic readiness, and universities treat it as a reliable external validation of a nonpublic school transcript
4. Evidence of rigor: dual enrollment credits, SAT subject tests (discontinued, but AP exams still apply), or a portfolio of academic work

Documenting Graduation

When a student completes your micro-school's graduation requirements, the administrative record should include:

• Final transcript showing all credits earned, cumulative GPA, and graduation date
• A signed diploma or certificate of completion (the micro-school issues this)
• A course completion record showing how each credit was earned (curriculum materials used, hours logged, assessments completed)
• A letter from the school administrator confirming graduation—some colleges and LOSFA may request this

If the student is also registered under BESE Home Study, the final BESE Home Study annual assessment for 12th grade serves as the official record of program completion for TOPS purposes.

Aligning Requirements With Your Pod's Academic Philosophy

Micro-schools run the spectrum from rigorous college-prep environments to project-based, mastery-focused models without traditional grades. Both can produce college-ready graduates if the graduation requirements are built deliberately.

A project-based pod does not need letter grades, but it does need a defensible way to translate completed projects into credit hours. If a student spends 120 documented hours on a marine biology project with measurable learning outcomes, that is a Biology credit—even without a textbook chapter and an end-of-unit test. The documentation burden is higher, but the academic claim is defensible.

What is not defensible: undocumented informal learning that cannot be mapped to subject areas, credit hours, or assessable outcomes. Colleges and LOSFA are not hostile to non-traditional education—they are hostile to records they cannot verify.

The Louisiana Micro-School & Pod Kit includes a graduation requirements template, a TOPS Core 4 credit tracking grid, a project-to-credit-hour documentation system, and a diploma template ready for customization with your micro-school's name and branding.

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