Bachelor's degrees from Central High School (Philadelphia)

In My Humble Opinion
1

According to their link (Click on Parents’ Handbook and go to Diplomas and Degrees), Central High is unique in that it is authorized by the State of Pennsylvania to grant bachelor’s degrees, and routinely does so to students who have maintained a high scholastic average. No other high school in the United States has this right.

So has anyone here gone to CHS, and received a bachelor’s degree? How useable is the CHS bachelor’s degree in practice? Could you really go straight on to graduate or professional school?

2

I can bump it after a couple of days, right?

3

I know a bajillion Central High grads and while Central used to be a school of prominence, it is pretty darn far from that now.

This smells like an old rule/tradition/law that has been far outlived, and this is the first I’ve heard of it, and I grew up in Philly around people who got off the subway and headed to Central while I continued on my way.

It just ain’t possible! Realistically speaking, that is.

4

Heck…I’m calling them. I’ll tell them I’m writing a school paper or something.

Let you know.

~Phil from Philly.

5

from Central:

In recognition of Central’s high academic standards, Central was granted the authority to confer academic degrees to its graduates by an Act of Assembly in 1849.

The Controllers of the Public Schools of the First District of Pennsylvania shall have and possess the power to confer academic degrees in the arts upon graduates of the Central High School, in the City of Philadelphia, and the same and like power to confer degrees, honorary and otherwise, which is now possessed by the University of Pennsylvania.

Today, that act is still in effect, making Central the only high school in the nation authorized to grant its graduates Bachelor of Arts college degrees instead of ordinary high school diplomas (if the graduates have fulfilled the requirements for a degree - see parent handbook for more details).

From Handbook:

Diplomas and Degrees
The conferring of academic degrees upon Central High School graduates dates from 1849 when an Act of Assembly provided “The Controllers of the Public Schools of the First School District of Pennsylvania shall have and possess the power to confer academic degrees in the arts upon graduates of the Central High School, in the City of Philadelphia, and the same and like power to confer degrees, honorary and otherwise, which is now possessed by the University of Pennsylvania.”

Section 1611 of the Pennsylvania Public School Code of 1949 continues that privilege: “Any public high school, in any school district, existing on the eighteenth day of May, one thousand nine hundred eleven, with a course of study of not less than four years, and upon whose students of the full prescribed course of study such academic or other degrees have heretofore been conferred, shall be continued by the board of school directors of the district in which it shall be located, under such name or title with such regulations, and courses of study of such length and character as the board may deem necessary.”

The degree given by Central High School is recommended for those graduates who have not failed a major subject above the 9th Grade and who have maintained a total average of at least 90, and attend Central for at least 3 years, including the senior year. The diploma given by Central High School is recommended for those graduates who have not fulfilled the requirements for the degree but have completed all other requirements for graduation. Students who leave Central at the 11th grade for early college admission may receive a Central H.S. Diploma, but not a Central H.S. Degree.

6

visit http://www.centralhigh.net/
they never get right to the point. There is a directory for phone numbers and e-mail adreseses as well.

7

Thanks Philster. It’s amazing what one little bump-up can do to garner some replies.

However, I’ve seen the website myself. I know what the school says, but I’d like to know what the world outside the school says. So I’ll be eagerly waiting to find out what you learn.

My suspicion is that at the time CHS was founded, there was a certain vagueness about post-elementary education in general, and in particular the roles and intended clientele of universities, colleges, and high schools. Early high schools were not intended, by and large, to prepare students for college, but rather to be an alternative to college, providing a terminal program of education. I imagine that early high school programs were more rigorous than those in effect today. In the 1800’s a HS freshman who wasn’t up to snuff would be “sent back to the grades”–sent back to ES. It’s hard to imagine such rigorous standards today; now they prefer to keep remedial students in HS and deal with them as best they can there.

So in that context maybe it wasn’t such a stretch to allow a high school to grant bachelor’s degrees.

8

I called and sent e-mail. waiting…

9

Got a response from the principal…

The Bachelor Degrees are still issued, but it’s mostly ceremonial.

my comment: If it is to everyone with a 90 avg or better, alot of students are getting them. So, it is most definitely for appearances. His comments at the end assure this.

Here is the quote from Sheldon Pavel, Principal:

"The answer is yes. By an act of the State Legislature of Pennsylvania in 1849 Central is entitled to award every degree that is awarded by the University of Pennsylvania. People in the 1800s and early 1900s were awarded Master’s degrees and Ph.D’s. A student who graduates with an average of over 90 without failures is awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree. It is now mostly ceremonial but it would be an interesting legal question. Good luck… "

10

I reckon such a degree isn’t very useful.

11

“Mostly” ceremonial?!?! There’s absolutely no use for this “honor.” Why not just say that these kids are graduating with honors or high honors instead of using confusing, antiquated terminology which may be legally permissible but serves utterly no purpose? How ridiculous.

12

Thanks for your responses.

So then it sounds like the recipients of these degrees are entitled to write BS or BA after their names, but they would not be able to enter graduate or professional school.

I agree the tradition is more than a little misleading. But I think that the second- or third- oldest public high school* in the country is entitled to its idiosyncracies, especially if it might encourage people in general to take high school more seriously.

*depending on what you consider a public high school. I think it’s Boston Latin (1600’s),
Boston English (1821),
and CHS (1838).