South Dakota · high school · 2026-2027 school year
South Dakota homeschool graduation requirements, diploma, and transcript
South Dakota has no state-issued homeschool diploma process. Alternative-instruction families set their own graduation policy, document credits, and the parent signs the diploma.
The short version
- Who sets the requirement: the state's graduation rules bind public schools, not homeschools. The parent issues the diploma.
- The reference standard: the public-school minimum is 22 credits, and that table is the common starting point a transcript is read against; colleges set their own expectations on top of it, below.
- What colleges actually look for: the universities in the table below publish their own course expectations.
- What a transcript must show: courses by year, credits, and grades, kept by the parent, with the same subject headings the reference table uses.
- Across states: compare what 51 flagship universities ask.
The public-school credit table, for reference
South Dakota's public-school diploma requires 22 credits. A homeschool is not held to it. It is shown as the reference a transcript is commonly read against. A recruited athlete also registers with the NCAA Eligibility Center, which grades home-school core courses against its own worksheet, separate from this table.
| Subject | Credits | What that means |
|---|---|---|
| English | 4 | Writing (1 unit); Speech or Debate (.5 unit); Literature incl. .5 unit American Literature (1 unit); Language Arts electives (1.5 units). |
| Math | 3 | Algebra I (1 unit); Mathematics electives (2 units). Since 2018, only Algebra I is individually named; Geometry/Algebra II are no longer separately mandated. |
| Science | 3 | Biology (1 unit); Science electives (2 units). Lab science requirement; an approved computer science course may replace one elective but not Biology. |
| Social studies | 3 | U.S. History (1 unit); U.S. Government (.5 unit); Social Studies electives (1.5 units). |
| Foreign language | 0 | Not separately required; world language is one option within a shared 1-unit combination credit. |
| PE and health | 1 | Physical Education (.5 unit); Health or Health Integration (.5 unit). |
| Arts | 1 | Fine Arts; up to 1 credit may come from extracurricular participation, capped at .25/activity/year. |
| Electives | 5.5 | |
| Other | 1.5 | Personal Finance or Economics (.5 unit); 1 unit of any combination: approved CTE, Capstone Experience/Service Learning, or World Language. |
Assessments in the public-school rules: none identified as a graduation gate; endorsements (not the base diploma) reference course rigor tied to Opportunity Scholarship eligibility criteria. These exams bind public-school students; a homeschooled student is not required to take them.
What South Dakota colleges ask a homeschooled applicant for
South Dakota's 22-credit diploma is a public-school reference point only; homeschools are not bound by it. Board of Regents Policy 2.2.1.1 lets each public university adopt its own admission guidelines within the Board's requirements, so the course patterns below are USD's and SDSU's own published ones; they happen to match.
Years of each subject. 0 means the university lists no requirement in that subject; a dash means it publishes no figure for it.
flagship University of South Dakota (USD)
| Subject | Minimum | Recommended |
|---|---|---|
| English | 4 | 4 |
| Math | 3 | 3 |
| Science | 3 | 3 |
| Social studies | 3 | 3 |
| Foreign language | – | – |
| Arts | 1 | 1 |
Plus one of: GPA 2.6+, top 50% class rank, ACT 21+/SAT 1070+, or a 3 or higher on the English Language Arts and Mathematics Smarter Balanced Assessments (Board of Regents system-wide core)
USD's own how-to-apply page: the core courses with a C average or better, plus one of the GPA, class-rank, test-score or Smarter Balanced alternatives. University of South Dakota (USD) requirements (source), checked 2026-09-04.
South Dakota State University (SDSU)
| Subject | Minimum | Recommended |
|---|---|---|
| English | 4 | 4 |
| Math | 3 | 3 |
| Science | 3 | 3 |
| Social studies | 3 | 3 |
| Foreign language | – | – |
| Arts | 1 | 1 |
Plus one of: ACT 18+/SAT 970+, Smarter Balanced Level 3+ math & ELA, GPA 2.6+, or top 60% class rank
Homeschool or nonaccredited graduates submit an official transcript in semester format for review. South Dakota State University (SDSU) requirements (source), checked 2026-09-01.
Questions families ask
Does South Dakota require a homeschool diploma?
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How many credits does a South Dakota homeschool diploma need?
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Who signs a homeschool transcript in South Dakota?
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What does University of South Dakota (USD) expect from a homeschooled applicant?
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How Trellis checks your transcript against this table
In Trellis, the courses you plan and the work your children check off become the transcript as you go. The graduation card reads that transcript against the table above and says, subject by subject, what is earned and what is still open, and it notices a course filed under the wrong heading before a college does. Nothing is retyped at the end of senior year.
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