Although House Bill 5 will bring changes to future grade levels, the State of Texas offers three basic plans for graduation that are in effect for current high-school students: minimum, recommended, and distinguished.

There are basic plans the state itself passes as graduation requirements and then there are plans specific to each district based on these state plans that can be embellished to require more course completion if a district so chooses. The state plans have different tiers just as the district plans do.

“The Distinguished Plan, which is a State of Texas program, not offered by LHS, is different than Recommended and Minimum plans in that it typically requires more foreign language and an additional core class,” college counselor Randy Trevino said.

The state’s Distinguished Achievement Plan is the top-tier graduation plan offered as a route for districts. This plan, along with the recommended and minimum plans, are graduation requirements that provide the bare minimums in each category. School districts can then adjust them in order to fit their standards. This is why the Recommended and Distinguished Achievement plans offered at LHS have different requirements than the basic state plans do.

However, in terms of the state’s plan, which is similar to the district’s plan but with less requirements, college benefits may be few and far between.

“Most colleges do not give the Distinguished Plan any extra consideration other than for the added foreign language that can be potentially used for college-level credit,” Trevino said. “Such as AP Spanish Lit, etc.”

Some students consider the district’s version of the distinguished diploma plan more helpful.

“I’m planning on getting the Distinguished Achievement plan,” senior Ethan Smith said. “Just because it looks better to colleges because it’s the higher one and requires more work to get.”

Other students take the classes that they want without paying too much attention to the plan that they are graduating on.

“I want to learn Spanish, so I’m taking Spanish,” freshman John Reaves said. “I guess that puts me on the distinguished track.”

As for the state’s version of the distinguished plan, while colleges may not pay any extra attention to it, it still carries some benefits.

“The Distinguished Plan is great,” Trevino said. “It keeps seniors on-top of their game due to the extra coursework they must do in order to graduate.”