Across the Pacific, something remarkable is happening inside Japanese high schools.

Every 11th and 12th grade student in a public high school in Japan now participates in a national curriculum requirement called “Period for Integrated Inquiry”—総合的な探究の時間. Think of it as independent study on a national scale. The Ministry of Education has mandated that schools give students time and structure to ask real questions, conduct research, solve problems, and present their findings. It’s not optional. It’s not remedial. It’s required.

At first glance, it sounds like a system far ahead of the U.S. But as I’ve learned through deep study of the Japanese model, their educators are encountering many of the same growing pains we face in the States. And there’s a common lesson emerging: when high schools take inquiry seriously, the next system that has to evolve is college admissions.

A Nation of Independent Studies, But No Destination

In Japan, teachers use the term “independent study” as shorthand for what is expected of them under this new law. What is officially referred to as 探究学習 or “inquiry-based-learning.” Unlike senior projects or capstone classes in the U.S., this isn’t just for elite or college-track students—it’s for everyone. Thousands of students across Japan are producing research papers on marine pollution, designing solutions for disaster response, and exploring local heritage. It’s beautiful, messy, student-driven learning.

But here’s the catch: it doesn’t count.

Students pour months into these projects, but their work rarely factors into how they’re admitted to university. Admissions offices—what Japanese educators refer to as "AO" (Admissions Office)—are caught in their own bind: trying to implement more holistic reviews while operating under serious time and staffing constraints. In fact, university professors are often pulled away from their research to review applications. With a flood of student artifacts and no national protocol for assessing them, AO staff are burning out, and students are left wondering whether their most meaningful work matters at all.

Sound familiar?

The American Parallel: Portraits, Performance, and the Push for Deeper Learning

Here in the U.S., we’re hearing the same call in a different language.

New York State’s Portrait of a Graduate initiative and the recommendations from the Blue Ribbon Commission on Graduation Measures are converging around the same insight: standardized metrics aren’t enough. If we want students who are curious, adaptive, and ready for life—not just college—we need to elevate performance-based assessments, not just tests.

But here’s our dilemma: How do we do that at scale? How do we verify and value independent student thinking in a way that is equitable, rigorous, and useful for university admissions?

It’s the same question Japan is now asking. It’s not just about what happens inside classrooms. It’s about the systems we build to recognize what students have done so that universities can reward these accomplishments with favorable admissions outcomes. 

HS Cred: A Model That Connects the Dots

That’s where the HS Cred model comes in. Students pay experts to validate their work up front. Any university staff that is pulled into portfolio review is doing it after hours as a side-hustle on our platform. Getting paid for their time by this platform’s investor class… of students. 

We’ve built a scalable platform that allows any student to earn verified academic credentials based on performance—evaluated by multiple subject-matter experts, recorded, published, and minted as academic capital. It’s a way to democratize what’s currently only accessible in elite programs or specialized schools.

For students, this means their independent work—whether from a Japanese 探究 project or a U.S. senior thesis—gets validated and recognized.