# Can you REPEAT high school as an adult if you already have a diploma? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 3, 2011, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-repeat-high-school-as-an-adult-if-you-already-have-a-diploma/591387 "2011-08-03T22:21:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-repeat-high-school-as-an-adult-if-you-already-have-a-diploma/591387/21 "2011-08-04T15:41:35Z")
Just googling for “maximum high school age” I found: [Palm Beach Schools](http://www.palmbeachschools.org/StudentProgression/2010-2011HighSchoolStudentProgressionPlan_12-8-10c.pdf): > [@](#): > > A person who is involved in a continuous program of study may be enrolled in a regular high school program through the end of the semester in which he/she reaches twenty-one (21) years of age. A person is deemed in a continuous program of study even though such program was interrupted by military service or illness. > SDPBC Student Progression Plans FY11 H/3 Effective September 7, 2010 > A person who has not been enrolled in a continuous program of study and who has attained the age of twenty (20) years of age on or before the opening of the school year shall not be enrolled in any regular high program. A nineteen (19) year-old person who has had a break in enrollment (see exception above), who will reach twenty (20) years of age during the school year, may enroll in a regular high school program and remain enrolled until the end of that school year. [Collier County](http://www.neola.com/collier-fl/search/policies/po5112.01.htm): > [@](#): > > In order to provide reasonable consistency of maturity levels among students in the regular high school program, no person shall be permitted to attend the regular high school program after attaining the age of twenty-one (21). Those who attain the age of twenty-one (21) during a school year may complete that school year. Persons who are eighteen (18) years old or older and who, by earning eight (8) credits per academic year, cannot meet graduation requirements, including grade point average (GPA), prior to the end of the school year during which they attain the age of twenty-one (21), shall not be permitted to attend the regular high school program beyond the end of the academic year in which they attain the age of eighteen (18). Such persons shall be afforded an opportunity to pursue a high school diploma through the Adult High School or General Educational Development (GED) programs of the District. [Texas news story](http://www.cbs19.tv/story/9875139/texas-law-extends-age-limit-for-high-schoolers): > [@](#): > > The state used to provide funding for high school students up age to age 20, or 21 for special education students. But a law, now in effect, allows people up to age 25 to enroll in high school. [New York City](http://schools.nyc.gov/ChoicesEnrollment/AlternativesHS/FAQs/default.htm#minimum): > [@](#): > > Transfer Schools accept students between the ages of 14 and 21, but each school has its own specific requirements. Contact the school of your choice for more information. YABCs serve students between the ages of 17.5 and 21. GED programs serve students over the age of 18. > Keep in mind that the Department of Education serves students through the end of the school year in which they turn 21. The school year begins on July 1, so if you turn 21 on July 2 you may attend school through the following June, but if you turn 21 on June 15 you may attend school only for two more weeks. ---
**Author:** ![Serenata67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/serenata67/32/10646_2.png) [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-repeat-high-school-as-an-adult-if-you-already-have-a-diploma/591387/22 "2011-08-04T17:45:28Z")
You could be [this](http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article5519174.ece)local woman. Then again, she got into trouble about the whole thing. ---
**Author:** ![Smurfie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@Smurfie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smurfie)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-repeat-high-school-as-an-adult-if-you-already-have-a-diploma/591387/23 "2011-08-04T18:39:31Z")
Adults should not be going to school with children. 19 cutoff sounds good to me. ---
**Author:** ![kaltkalt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bb73d2/32.png) [@kaltkalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaltkalt)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-repeat-high-school-as-an-adult-if-you-already-have-a-diploma/591387/24 "2011-08-04T19:10:10Z")
I bet there is a private school that, despite an age cutoff, would let you attend classes if (1) you don’t have any pedophilia sex crimes on your record and (2) you paid 2-3x regular tuition. I actually think, despite maturity and study skills, it would be very hard to go back and redo a lot of high school classes. After being away from school for so long, it would be VERY hard to get back into that mode. Maybe there’s an advantage of not having to be involved in all that social crap… the parties, trying to get laid all the time, etc. Still, if you got a B the first time around I think most people would do worse than that the second time around. Not better. I think it’s extremely naiave to think you’d end up valedictorian based on what you’ve learned as an adult. I actually think it would be a pretty embarassing experience for 99% of adults. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-repeat-high-school-as-an-adult-if-you-already-have-a-diploma/591387/25 "2011-08-04T19:58:45Z")
A related question: Could a high-school graduate (and college graduate, in my case) take the GED? I’ve always though about taking it just for shits & giggles, and to see how I’d do. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-repeat-high-school-as-an-adult-if-you-already-have-a-diploma/591387/26 "2011-08-04T20:35:02Z")
Actually, it’s pretty easy if you can find the right circumstances. You can make the same wish as some hapless teen (timing is important on that one), find a Zoltar Speaks machine, piss in a magic fountain… ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-repeat-high-school-as-an-adult-if-you-already-have-a-diploma/591387/27 "2011-08-04T21:32:32Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > A related question: Could a high-school graduate (and college graduate, in my case) take the GED?.. [http://www.acenet.edu/Content/NavigationMenu/ged/faq/index.htm#eligibility](http://www.acenet.edu/Content/NavigationMenu/ged/faq/index.htm#eligibility) This seems to indicate that if you already have a high school diploma, then you cannot take the test. ---
**Author:** ![Romeo\_and\_Whatsherface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@Romeo\_and\_Whatsherface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Romeo_and_Whatsherface)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-repeat-high-school-as-an-adult-if-you-already-have-a-diploma/591387/28 "2011-08-04T22:32:39Z")
All of the high schools I’m aware of have 22 established as the maximum age for students, in part due to federal regulations and funding (which stops when students are 22), and in part due to concerns about having twenty-somethings hanging with kids in their early teens. Your other problem would be your transcript. The grades you earned today would not replace the grades you earned as a teen (A 16-yr.-old who fails US History, retakes it, and passes it gets both the original F and the better grade factored into her GPA.), so you probably wouldn’t be able to get that 4.0+ you’re hoping for. This would most likely be the case even if you attended a different high school than you did as a tad. I’m a high school teacher, and I’d love to teach a class of adult second-time-arounders. A lot of para-educators who’ve helped students in my classes say they learned a lot more than they did when they first went to high school. I’m all for it–if it wouldn’t drain already-scarce funding. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-repeat-high-school-as-an-adult-if-you-already-have-a-diploma/591387/29 "2011-08-04T23:08:15Z")
I know someone closely who doesn’t have a have a high school diploma or a GED but she does have a bachelors degree in Chemical Engineering and a PhD in clinical psychology. She is a college professor now. She dropped out of high school when her mother died and ran away from home. A few years later, she went to community college to take classes and worked her way up from that. I suppose she would be technically eligible to go to GED night school and that would make a pretty good joke. If it were me, I would make the instructor call me Dr. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-repeat-high-school-as-an-adult-if-you-already-have-a-diploma/591387/30 "2011-08-05T14:09:22Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > I literally have nightmares about this scenario a couple times a year. I’ll be back in school, taking classes, and then realize I’ve already taken the class, except now I’ve forgotten that the big paper is due today and there’s a class I was supposed to take that I’ve never attended, and so on. This reminds me of a common dream of my own: As the fog of unconsciousness clears I find myself flying high in the sky, not knowing where I’m headed. Then, suddenly I lose my flight ability and begin to fall…and fall…a very great distance, until landing at the entrance-way to my old High School. I get up, only to see a quite agitated Velociraptor in the courtyard, hop-running toward me, constricted pupils locked on mine, closing in fast. I turn to flee into the school for refuge, but realize that my feet are hopelessly stuck in molasses and my forward progression is in slow motion. I free my feet in the nick of time, enter, slam the door on the raptors head, which explodes into a mass of writhing snakes, and continue, with fast beating heart and sweaty brow down the long, desolate hallway, remembering I’m late for a critical test. But I don’t remember where my classroom is. After much trial and error, I find the class, take my seat, look over the test sheet and realize that I’m completely unprepared and know none of the test answers. With mounting test-anxiety, I grind my teeth until they all crumble and fall out of my mouth. I hear laughter—a few titters at first, but quickly snowballing into a symphony of derisive belly laughs—and believe my teacher and classmates are finding humor in my unfortunate dental situation. That is, until I realize that I’m completely naked and everyone is pointing at my genitals that have mysteriously become very small and oddly shaped. Well, from that point on, the dream gets a little bizzare, so I won’t bore you with the details…but it’s the same dream I have once or twice each night. Luckily my nightmares are much less frequent. Anyone else have this dream? ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-repeat-high-school-as-an-adult-if-you-already-have-a-diploma/591387/31 "2011-08-05T19:49:21Z")
Some private prep (& usually boarding as well) schools in the US offer a “post-graduate year” (or 13th grade), but I think that’s usually meant for international students wanting to improve their English & better prepare for study at American colleges. In any event these students probally wouldn’t be any older than 20. On a related note both exchange students at my HS senior year had already finished secondary school in their home countries (Georgia & Thailand) so they were technically high school graduates enrolled in high school again. The Georgian turned 19 during the school year, but so did 2 other regular students. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2011, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-repeat-high-school-as-an-adult-if-you-already-have-a-diploma/591387/32 "2011-08-06T06:49:10Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > I literally have nightmares about this scenario a couple times a year. I’ll be back in school, taking classes, and then realize I’ve already taken the class, except now I’ve forgotten that the big paper is due today and there’s a class I was supposed to take that I’ve never attended, and so on. Only a couple times a year? Anyway, I doubt anyone has _not_ had that dream. A good quickie bit in the move Top Secret has the hero being tortured/whipped, drifting into a I can’t find my room/I didn’t know a test was scheduled-type dream, and when he wakes up sighs in relief although still being whipped. That sentence was longer than the bit. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2011, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-repeat-high-school-as-an-adult-if-you-already-have-a-diploma/591387/33 "2011-08-06T06:50:45Z")
What I _would_ like to repeat is the getting stoned, getting laid part. ---
**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2011, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-repeat-high-school-as-an-adult-if-you-already-have-a-diploma/591387/34 "2011-08-06T20:08:46Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > I live in the US and have both a High School Diploma and a BS, both of them from accredited institutions (i.e., they are considered valid anywhere in the US and possibly the world). > > I pulled off a B average in High School, so many years ago (I think my GPA was around 3.1 or something). I got in to college (not the best school, but a good, respectable one that you can’t really be ashamed of). > > I have a morbid temptation to redo my high school years. With all the knowledge I’ve learned in college and in the real world, and all the practical wisdom regarding time management and study skills that I’ve picked up, I think that, if I could do it over again, I could blow it away and be valedictorian and get a scholarship for MIT. > > I know that I could, if I wanted, do another Bachelor’s degree and hang a BA in English next to my BS in Computer Science if I put in 2 years or so. > > But is there any way to redo high school? Could I rationally gain admittance to a Private School, like one of those old-fashioned “Harry Potter-esque”, “good evening, guvnah” style boarding schools? I checked my state’s GED program, and one of the prerequisites for taking the test is that you have to establish to the satisfaction of the state that you didn’t finish high school, so I’m out on that. Are there alternate High School equivalency programs? > > Note: I’m not actually planning to do this - it is a morbid fascination. around here you can’t stay in HS after the age of 18, 21 for special ed students. So, no you wouldn’t be allowed in. OTOH, you can probably go for a GED, no age limit there. ---
**Author:** ![eldiablito2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bc8723/32.png) [@eldiablito2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eldiablito2)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2012, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-repeat-high-school-as-an-adult-if-you-already-have-a-diploma/591387/35 "2012-06-03T22:22:06Z")
if ur over 22 u can’t go back 2 high school i have a question if im 19 year old and i have a high school diploma can i go back to high school to take the SAT ? ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2012, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-repeat-high-school-as-an-adult-if-you-already-have-a-diploma/591387/36 "2012-06-03T22:31:34Z")
> [@eldiablito2](#): > > if ur over 22 u can’t go back 2 high school > i have a question if im 19 year old and i have a high school diploma can i go back to high school to take the SAT ? Dude, high school would do you a world of good. Please attempt to enroll immediately. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2012, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-repeat-high-school-as-an-adult-if-you-already-have-a-diploma/591387/37 "2012-06-03T22:54:14Z")
While my high school was nothing to brag about it did have one thing. More courses that were probably worth taking than I had time to take. Even back then I had this idea. Purposely fail for a year or two so I could take those extra courses. An extra year or two of some useful and marketable vocational tech courses, some extra languages, some of the science I didn’t have enough time for? All for free? If my home life had been really bad/impoverished I think I could have easily gone for at least one extra year at that time. ---
**Author:** ![LurkerInNJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed655f/32.png) [@LurkerInNJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkerInNJ)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-repeat-high-school-as-an-adult-if-you-already-have-a-diploma/591387/38 "2012-06-04T00:08:37Z")
I had an older relative who had to quit school after the 8th grade to help support her family. When things got better financially, she started high school in her 20’s. This was at the turn of the 20th century. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-repeat-high-school-as-an-adult-if-you-already-have-a-diploma/591387/39 "2012-06-04T00:34:59Z")
You have to forget about the MIT scholarship unless you have near perfect SAT scores. There is a valedictorian in very high school in America but very few of them would be admitted to MIT at all let alone get a scholarship. You could try a version of this as an experiment. Take the SAT again and see how you do. I don’t think your score will have changed much at all. It is essentially an IQ test but feel free to prove me wrong. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-repeat-high-school-as-an-adult-if-you-already-have-a-diploma/591387/40 "2012-06-04T01:07:15Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > What I _would_ like to repeat is the getting stoned, getting laid part. There was a getting laid part? ☹ I get the same dream as everybody else. I generally eventually realize I’m way too old for high school but not that I shouldn’t be there. I just think about how shameful it is to not have been able to graduate from high school yet (and I’m going to fail again since I didn’t prepare this exam I’m about to pass). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-repeat-high-school-as-an-adult-if-you-already-have-a-diploma/591387.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-repeat-high-school-as-an-adult-if-you-already-have-a-diploma/591387.md?page=3)