Credits earned from courses completed in a regional occupational center or regional occupational program may be applied toward fulfillment of requirements for a high school diploma. A governing board of a district maintaining a regional occupational center may confer a high school diploma upon any pupil who attends a regional occupational center maintained by the district full time and has satisfactorily completed the prescribed course of study of the school district of residence or the course of study prescribed by the county superintendent of schools, school district, or school districts, as the case may be, maintaining such center.