For more than a century, the Regents diploma has stood for excellence.

College admissions officers, and employers looking to hire qualified high school graduates, know that students who have earned Regents diplomas have met high academic standards and worked hard to demonstrate competence in a number of academic disciplines. Passing Regents exams - and earning a Regents diploma - is no easy task.

Yet, over the last decade, the percentage of New York students earning Regents diplomas has climbed steadily, even as the number of total credits required has increased and the standards have grown more rigorous. It is far more difficult to earn a Regents diploma today than in the 1970s and 1980s, yet more New York students - and more minority students - are rising up to meet the challenge.

In 2002, 55 percent of New York's high school graduates earned Regents diplomas, up from 39 percent in 1994 and 36 percent in 1986 - an era when the Regents graduation requirements were less demanding than they are today.

New York City and high-need rural school districts have been making particularly strong headway in increasing their percentages of students meeting the more demanding Regents diploma requirements. While the road ahead is still long - and funding equity still elusive - New York City has raised its percentage of graduates earning Regents diplomas from 19 percent in 1995-96 to 32 percent in 2001-2002. This represents solid progress.

On top of this, the number of school districts demonstrating excellence - defined by NYSUT as having more than 90 percent of their graduates earn Regents diplomas - is rapidly accelerating. This excellence is coming from all corners of New York State.

In 1998-99, just one school district in New York State awarded Regents diplomas to more than 90 percent of its graduating class. In June 2001, nine school districts reached that mark.

But, in 2002 the number of school districts presenting Regents diplomas to 90 percent or more of its graduating class shot up to 28.

Suburban schools - New York's pillars of public school excellence - again led the way. But upstate rural school districts are also demonstrating the ability to help virtually all students meet the tough requirements for a Regents diploma. In 2002, Long Lake, Naples, Lisbon, Randolph, Spencer Van Etten and Johnsburg and three others in the Hudson Valley achieved this measure of excellence.

NEXT: "3. Advanced Placement: A Boom in Excellence"