We knew that the 'Glee' kids would have to graduate high school eventually, but we weren't expecting them to say goodbye so soon. Ryan Murphy announced that New Directions members Chris Colfer, Lea Michele and Cory Monteith -- aka Kurt, Rachel and Finn -- won't be returning to McKinley High for Season 4.

"You can keep them on the show for six years and people will criticize you for not being realistic, or you can be really true to life and say when they started the show they were very clearly sophomores and they should graduate at the end of their senior year," Murphy commented in a new interview with the Hollywood Reporter.

"We’ve never done anything by the book," the 'Glee' creator continued. "We made that decision and I involved Chris and Lea and they thought that was a good idea. They both trust the writing and trust me and felt that it would be great to have an open and closed experience for them to go out while they were on top."

We'll find out just how many of our favorites will be graduating when the new season premieres this fall, but unfortunately, Murphy revealed that "more characters are leaving than are staying" following Season 3, because they wanted to keep the high school experience realistic. There will be a big focus on Rachel's post-high school goals and ambitions, as well as what the other characters are planning to do.

'Glee' Season 3 starts Sept. 20.

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