CHSA is pleased to make available a tracker, which will updated approximately every two weeks, compiling bills and regulatory actions impacting college in high school programs such as dual enrollment, concurrent enrollment, and early college high school across the country.
The tracker includes information and links to the bills, current status, a brief summary, and how each bill or action could be categorized according to CHSA’s Unlocking Potential framework for policy for college in high school programs.
If you have any questions about the tracker, please contact us. This tracker is maintained by Foresight Law + Policy.
Click here to access the College in High School Alliance’s State Legislative and Regulatory Tracker
Updated March 29, 2023
Legislative Updates
The following bills had significant status updates:
- Arizona SB1717 – Passed Senate - Establishes the dual enrollment incentive program to provide an incentive bonus to teachers, school districts, and charter schools for students who obtain a passing grade in a qualifying dual enrollment course. School districts or charter schools that receive these incentive bonuses must distribute at least 50% of the bonus monies to the associated classroom teachers for each student who receives a passing grade in the qualifying dual enrollment course. This bill also establishes the dual enrollment development fund to provide incentive bonuses to teachers who meet certain requirements.
- Arkansas SB294 – Signed by the Governor - This bill adds to existing law provisions relating to high school career-ready pathways to diplomas. This bill provides for career-ready pathways to diplomas to provide students with credentials of value in a desired high-wage, high-growth career and a strong academic core. Public school districts would be required to expand offerings, which would include concurrent enrollment courses.
- Colorado SB23-115 – Signed by the Governor - This bill provides for supplemental appropriations to the department of education - this includes funding for the concurrent enrollment expansion and innovation grant program.
- Florida HB1 – Sent to Governor to sign - This bill amends the Dual Enrollment Scholarship Program statute to allow for reimbursement of tuition and related instructional material costs for dual enrollment courses by eligible students, which would now include personalized education program secondary students.
- Georgia SB86 – Passed House - This bill specifies that beginning in 2023, each student participating in the Dual Enrollment program would be allowed to access HOPE career grant funds for eligible CTAE courses. This bill also requires annual reporting, for a total of 3 years, on certain data.
- Illinois HB1213 – Passed House - This bill provides that scholarships awarded under the Teach Illinois Scholarship Program may be granted to individuals employed as teachers who agree to pursue a master's degree at a qualified institution of higher learning in order to teach dual credit courses at a secondary school. This bill would require any individual receiving a scholarship to teach dual credit courses, following the completion of the program of study, the individual must teach at least one dual credit course per school year in a secondary school in the state for a period of at least 5 years.
- Illinois HB2289 – Passed House - This bill makes nonsubstantive changes to the Dual Credit Act.
- Illinois HB3224 – Passed House - This bill amends the Children with Disabilities Article of the School Code - it provides that, as part of transition planning, a school district must provide a student and the parent or guardian of the student with information about dual credit courses offered by the school district. Further, if the student is enrolled in a dual credit course for dual credit or for high school credit only, the student's participation in the course must be included as part of the student's transition IEP activities.
- Iowa HF370 – Passed House - Amends existing law relating to statewide school infrastructure funding - this bill would add a section to this funding law to provide that "school infrastructure" includes a joint infrastructure project with one or more districts or one or more school districts and a community college for which buildings or facilities are constructed or leased for the purpose of offering classes under a district-to-community college sharing agreement or concurrent enrollment program.
- Iowa SF496 – Passed Senate - Provides that parents of children identified as requiring special education may request dual enrollment.
- Kentucky SB25 – Signed by the Governor - This bill amends existing law relating to the postsecondary readiness indicator. This bill would specify that students may satisfy the requirements for postsecondary readiness (academic indicator) by (in addition to the existing requirement that the student will achieve of a minimum of three hours of dual credit by completing a course approved by the Kentucky Board of Education) qualifying for a minimum of three hours of postsecondary articulated credit associated with a statewide articulation agreement.
- Maryland SB668 – Passed Senate - This bill establishes the Teacher Apprenticeship Startup Grant Program - this bill requires a high school level apprenticeship under a teacher apprenticeship program to include an early college program, or dual enrollment at a student's high school or an institution of higher education.
- Maryland SB822 – Passed Senate - This bill would require that each memorandum of understanding establishing a certain P-TECH school ensures that each P-TECH student receives a high school diploma immediately following completion of high school graduation requirements.
- Mississippi SB2487 – Passed House, as amended - This bill creates the Mississippi Dual Credit Scholarship Program, which is to be administered by the Postsecondary Education Financial Assistance Board. This bill provides that only courses on the "approved academic dual credit listing" would be eligible for funding in order to ensure appropriate articulation of college credits to other institutions. This bill would exclude early college students; middle college students may qualify, if the institution complies with the requirements of the Manual.
- Montana HB2 – Passed House - This appropriations bill provides funding for community colleges - the bill notes that the community college weighting factors for the 2025 biennium would be 0.25 for concurrent enrollment FTE.
- New Mexico HB125 – Vetoed by the Governor - This bill provides appropriations for the purpose of awarding grants of money to school districts for programs of dual credit at public schools in the state.
- New Mexico HB126 – Passed Senate - This bill amends existing law relating to graduation requirements for students entering 9th grade in the 2024-25 school year. The amendments specify that nothing in the minimum graduation requirements would affect a student's opportunity to take advanced placement or honors courses, distance learning courses, or dual credit courses offered in cooperation with institutions of higher education.
- New Mexico HB198 – Passed Senate - This bill amends the career technical education pilot project and the career technical education fund to include secondary schools funded by the Federal Bureau of Indian Education. These programs that are funded as part of the pilot project must include the potential for dual credit courses.
- North Carolina HB96 – Passed House - This bill would require at least 3 credit hours of instruction in American History or American Government for graduation from a constituent institution of the University of North Carolina or a community college - this bill would specify that the chancellor may exempt a student from these requirements if the student has successfully completed at least 3 credit hours in a postsecondary-level course provided outside the constituent institution, including through a dual enrollment course.
- Oklahoma SB531 – Passed Senate - This bill amends existing law relating to reporting of student performance. Postsecondary opportunities are to be based on the percentage of high school students who meet at least one criteria enumerated in the bill. This criteria includes earning transcripted college credit while still in high school through concurrent or dual enrollment.
- South Carolina SB138 – Passed Senate - This bill amends existing law relating to grade point average requirements for Life Scholarship eligibility and retention - this bill provides that a student who becomes eligible for a Life Scholarship may not subsequently become ineligible for retention of the scholarship based on a grade in a dual enrollment class.
- Utah HB335 – Signed by the Governor - This bill provides that a local education agency may contract with a nondesignated institution of higher education to provide concurrent enrollment courses under certain circumstances. This bill further amends provisions for approving a local education agency employee as an eligible instructor.
- Virginia SB1281 – Signed by the Governor - This bill directs the Board of Education to develop guidelines to be adopted by each local school board directing prioritization of funding to be given to dual enrollment courses, including courses that are part of the Passport Program or the Uniform Certificate of General Studies Program and other courses that lead to the fulfillment of a requirement for a nationally recognized credential offered in the Virginia Community College system.
- West Virginia HB2005 – Signed by the Governor - This bill establishes the dual enrollment pilot program to be administered by the Higher Education Policy Commission and the Council for Community and Technical College Education. The pilot would involve institutions offering dual enrollment courses that comprise individualized pathways for career and postsecondary educational opportunities for the state's secondary school students.
The following bills were introduced:
- Alabama SB67 - Existing law provides educational tuition reimbursement for qualified active members of the Alabama National Guard. This bill would extend tuition reimbursement for dually or concurrently enrolled high school and college students.
- Colorado SB23-214 - This 2023-2024 Long Bill provides for the provision for payment of the expenses of the departments of the state of Colorado, including the Department of Education. The budget for Education includes funds for the Concurrent Enrollment Expansion and Innovation Grant Program.
- Florida HB1537 - This bill amends existing law relating to dual enrollment courses. Existing law requires the Department of Education to approve courses for inclusion in the dual enrollment program. This bill would specify those courses must be age and developmentally appropriate.
- Florida HB5101 - This bill would amend existing law and specify that school districts would be required to pay for the cost of instructional materials for public high school students who are earning credit toward high school graduation under the dual enrollment program.
- Florida SB202 - This bill amends the Dual Enrollment Scholarship Program statute to allow for reimbursement of tuition and related instructional material costs for dual enrollment courses by eligible students, which would now include personalized education program secondary students.
- Florida SPB2500 - This appropriations bill would provide funds for dual enrollment programs including: Seacoast Collegiate High School Dual Enrollment & Workforce Center Expansion, the dual enrollment scholarship program, the dual enrollment teacher scholarship program, and funds for dual enrollment instructional materials.
- Idaho HB225 - This bill prohibits certain funding for home schooled children - this bill specifies that students who are enrolled in or receiving state K-12 education funding shall not be designated as homeschooled or home educated. This bill specifies that dual enrollment is not considered enrollment in a public school.
- Iowa HF560 - This bill provides appropriations for payments to community colleges for concurrent enrollment of accredited nonpublic school students. Any remaining funds at the close of the fiscal year shall remain available for expenditure for support costs associated with the creation of a program to provide additional moneys for resident high school students enrolled in grades 9-12 to attend a community college for college-level classes or attend a class taught by a community college-employed instructor during the summer and outside of the regular school year through a contractual agreement between a community college and a school district under the future ready Iowa initiative.
- Massachusetts HD3890 - In order to achieve, promote, and support college affordability, this bill would establish and set up a fund to be known as the Open Educational Resource Trust Fund, which must be used to support the development and distribution of open educational resources for university and early college course textbooks. This bill also establishes a competitive grant program to promote and support the development of open educational resources for students in public higher education institutions and early college programs.
- Minnesota HF3149 - This bill amends existing law relating to innovation zone partnerships - this bill provides that innovation zone partnerships may implement innovative education programs and models that may include granting a high school diploma to a student who meets the graduation requirements while providing students with the opportunity to attain postsecondary credits or degrees through concurrent enrollment courses.
- Nevada AB317 – This bill would authorize students to earn credits for dual credit courses offered by an institution of higher education located in another state under certain circumstances. This bill would further amend existing law to authorize agreements between institutions of higher education and school districts if the institution is located in another state and is accredited by a national accrediting agency recognized by USED, among other amendments.
- Nevada AB347 - This bill provides appropriations for the purpose of awarding grants of money to school districts for programs of dual credit at public schools in the state.
- New York S5616 - This bill would provide funding for dual or concurrent enrollment programs to ensure access to high quality program that continues to innovate and continues to grow through performance based results. This bill establishes dual or concurrent enrollment tuition assistance program awards.
- North Carolina SB351 - This bill requires the Department of Public Instruction to study and make recommendations on the feasibility and potential outcomes of a statewide year-round school year, including analysis of dual enrollment in community college courses for high school students.
- Texas HB3486 & SB1887 - This bill amends the requirements for the early college education program and the transfer of course credit among public institutions of higher education.
- Texas HB4383 - This bill relates to measures to assist small and rural school districts in implementing a collegiate model and expanding broadband access. This bill establishes the Rural Schools and Communities Technical Assistance Center - this Center would be required to assist participating school districts in implementing the Collegiate Edu-Nation P-20 System Model for 21st Century School Transformation to support implementation of the Pathways in Technology Early College High School programs in participating school districts.
- Texas HB5111 - This bill amends existing law relating to requirements for the early college education program - this includes eligibility for students' participation and reporting requirements by high schools designated as early college high schools.
Note: New Mexico and South Dakota are now adjourned.
Regulatory Updates
- Iowa - At the March 23, 2023 meeting, the State Board received a report on Iowa Community Colleges joint enrollment for academic year 2022. In academic year 2022, there were 50,082 jointly enrolled students in Iowa - a 6.0 % increase from the previous year. This report includes data on growth, student demographics, enrollment by subject area, and joint enrollment data by community college.
- Oklahoma - At the March 2023 meeting, the Board voted on the adoption of permanent rules, including Rule 210:35-19-3 Concurrent Enrollment. The amendments to this rule include amendments relating to the purpose of the section on concurrent enrollment and approval for participation in concurrent enrollment courses.
