The State Board of Education is responsible for setting state-level graduation requirements that students must complete in order to receive a diploma. The Legislature may also establish requirements.

In addition to these state-level requirements, school districts may add additional local graduation requirements on top of the state minimum requirements. Only after students meet all of the designated state and local requirements do they earn a diploma.

Washington law (RCW 28A.230.700) states that the purpose of a high school diploma is to declare that a student is ready for success in postsecondary education, gainful employment, and civic engagement, and is equipped with the skills to be a lifelong learner.

No. By law, only school districts (RCW 28A.230.120) and community and technical colleges (RCW 28B.50.535) may issue a high school diploma.

There are five ways to earn a high school diploma in Washington.

1. Earning a diploma from a school district.
2. Completing and passing all required International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma program courses; passing all internal assessments as scored at the local level; successfully completing all required projects and products as scored at the local level; completing the final examinations administered by the IB organization in each of the required subjects under the diploma program; and completing all local district requirements unless waived (per RCW 28A.230.122)
3. Earning an associate’s degree through Running Start and requesting a high school diploma from the community and technical college where they earned the degree.
4. Earning an associate’s degree at a Washington state public community or technical college.
5. Successfully completing a high school completion program through a community or technical college.

There is no "state" diploma. Students must meet state high school graduation requirements AND requirements added by their local district, private school, or tribal school.

Local school district, private school, or tribal school policies should specify under which circumstances locally set graduation requirements can or cannot be waived.

Check with the local district. The state does not maintain centralized records of individual diplomas. Local districts must retain transcripts for 100 years.

The Board does not retain individual student records and thus we are unable to directly assist in helping you get a copy of your diploma.

If you're looking to receive a copy of your diploma to verify education, you may also consider getting a copy of your high school transcript as this is what is commonly used by employers. To get a copy of your high school transcript, we recommend you reach out to the district office for the school you graduated from. Under state law, a school must retain student records for up to 50 years and on request, the school must provide, without charge, a transcript. 

 If you’re in need of the actual paper diploma, we recommend reaching out to the school district, private school, or community and technical college that issued the original diploma. They may be able to make a replacement. There may be a fee for processing your request to replace the diploma, and it may take several weeks to receive it.

The State Board of Education has no formal guidelines for evaluating online credentials.

One indication of quality is often whether the school issuing the credential is accredited. Please see our Accreditation FAQ more information on what accreditation is and a list of accrediting bodies.

Page last updated: January 2026