A major provision of the South Carolina Education Improvement Act of 1984 established the requirement for a high school exit examination (HSEE) for all 10th-grade students. Passage of the HSEE is a condition for the receipt of a state high school diploma. The HSEE is an outgrowth of the South Carolina Basic Skills Assessment Program, which mandated a state testing program to assess student mastery of mathematics, reading, and writing skills. The HSEE, which consists of three subtests (reading, writing, and mathematics), was pilot tested twice between 1985 and 1987. Tenth, 11th, and 12th graders and adult education students are administered the HSEE in the spring of each year. It is also administered each fall to all 12th graders and adult education students who have not passed one or more sections of the exam. Currently, 10th-grade students who fail any subtest must retake the subtest during the 11th grade and, if necessary, twice during the 12th grade. Students are allowed four attempts to pass all three subtests. For the class of 1990, 63% of the 40,399 10th graders who took the HSEE passed all three portions on their first attempt. By the end of the fourth administration, 1,999 students had still not passed the HSEE. In addition to other non-diploma options, remedial education is offered to those students who do not pass the exam. The cumulative passing rate of 94.5% for the class of 1990 exceeded the estimated cumulative passing rate for the pilot-test class of 1989, which was 85.9%. Surveys of students and the public indicate that students are properly informed of the testing requirements, and students and the public generally agree that the such an exam is appropriate. (TJH)