Palm Beach County Graduation Requirements — What Florida Actually Requires (2027 Rules)
The short answer: graduation requirements in Palm Beach County are Florida’s requirements. Credits, EOCs and diploma designations are set in state statute and apply identically in every district. The School District of Palm Beach County is the fifth-largest in Florida. What a district controls is scheduling, course offerings and local support — not what it takes to graduate.
That matters because it means a guide written for West Palm Beach families and a guide written for the rest of Florida say the same thing about the rules. Here they are, and then the part that genuinely is local.
The state requirements, which apply in Palm Beach County
| Requirement | Detail |
|---|---|
| 24 credits | 4 ELA, 4 Math (including Algebra 1 and Geometry), 3 Science (including Biology 1), 3 Social Studies, 1 PE, 1 Fine Arts, 0.5 Personal Financial Literacy, 7.5 Electives. |
| Algebra 1 EOC | Must reach Level 3, or use a concordant SAT or ACT score. This is the only EOC that is itself a graduation gate. |
| Grade 10 ELA | Must reach Level 3 on the FAST ELA assessment, or use a concordant score. |
| Personal Financial Literacy | 0.5 credit, required for students who entered grade 9 in 2023–24 or later — the class of 2027 onward. |
| GPA | A 2.0 unweighted cumulative GPA. |
| Other EOCs | Geometry, Biology 1 and U.S. History count toward the course grade (typically 30%) but are not graduation gates on their own. |
The full breakdown, including the Scholar and Merit designations and the concordant-score route, is in the complete Florida graduation requirements guide. The new financial literacy half-credit has its own guide.
What Palm Beach County actually decides
- When EOCs are administered. The state sets the testing windows; the district picks the days inside them. Your school’s testing calendar is the source for this, not the state’s.
- Which courses are offered where. Acceleration options, AP and dual enrolment availability, and which campuses teach which electives vary across Palm Beach County.
- Credit recovery and retake scheduling. How a student retakes the Algebra 1 EOC, and when, is a district and school arrangement.
- Local scholarship and recognition programmes, which sit on top of state requirements rather than replacing them.
If your student is behind on the Algebra 1 EOC
This is the single requirement that most often puts a diploma at risk anywhere in Florida, Palm Beach County included. Two routes stay open:
- Retake the EOC. There is no cap on attempts, and retake windows run in fall, spring and summer.
- Use a concordant score. An accepted SAT or ACT score substitutes for the Algebra 1 EOC requirement. Cut scores change, so confirm the current figure with FDOE or your counselor — our guide to the concordant route explains how it works.
Practice helps with the first of those. Our free Algebra 1 EOC practice test puts ten questions with worked explanations on one page, no sign-in needed.
Related guides
- Florida high-school graduation requirements — complete guide
- The 0.5-credit financial literacy requirement, class of 2027 onward
- What happens if a student does not pass an EOC
- Free EOC practice tests, every subject
Independent guide, accurate as published in October 2026. Florida CAP Prep™ is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by the Florida Department of Education, Palm Beach County, or any Florida school district. Requirements are set in state statute and change by legislation; confirm your student’s own cohort with their school counselor.