How many credits do you need to graduate penn foster high school?

Answer 1

Answer 1: Yes, Penn Foster High School is "regionally" accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools (MSA-CESS), which is one of the United State's six big "regional" accreditors approved by both the US Department of Education (USDE), and the USDE-sanctioned Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA).

So-called "regional" accreditation such as from MSA-CESS is considered the best kind of accreditation; and so Penn Foster High School's diploma would be every bit as acceptable to employers and/or colleges/universities as would the high school diploma from any community's local city or county high school.

Please see the "sources and related links" section, below, for a link to Penn Foster High School's MSA-CESS accreditation verification page.

Penn Foster College, on the other hand, is not "regionally" accredited... though it is, indeed, accredited by a USDE- and CHEA-approved accreditor. Penn Foster College's accreditation is "national," not "regional;" and its accreditor is the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC) which is quite possibly the most credible and respected of the USDE- and CHEA-approved "national" accreditors.

However, that said, most in academia agree that "regional" accreditation is generally better than "national" accreditation; and some "regionally" accredited schools will even turn-up their noses at "nationally" accredited degrees and/or transferable coursework. CHEA's "Higher Education Transfer Alliance" (HETA), though, is encouraging "regionally" accredited schools to stop doing that; to start treating nationally-accredited schools with the same high regard as regionally-accredited ones. See the link to HETA in the "sources and related links" section, below, as well.

Penn Foster College's "national" accreditation, however, has nothing to do with its high school's "regional" accreditation. They are completely separate and unrelated things.

Answer 2

Transfer of credit is not guaranteed. It is up to the school that you are applying for whether or not they accept the credits from another school.

Answer 3

21.5 credits