Senate Bill 2540

AN ACT TO CREATE THE STEP AHEAD PROGRAM, WHICH SHALL PROVIDE A STANDARDIZED DUAL ENROLLMENT PROGRAM FOR SECONDARY STUDENTS; TO PROVIDE REQUIREMENTS FOR PARTICIPATION IN THE PROGRAM; TO PROVIDE THAT A COMMUNITY COLLEGE OR INSTITUTION OF HIGHER LEARNING SHALL BE PROVIDED A STATE APPROPRIATION AT A CERTAIN RATE FOR STEP AHEAD STUDENTS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. The Legislature finds the following:

(a) There is established the Step Ahead Program. The goal of the program shall be to create a standardized dual enrollment program for secondary students in Mississippi and to increase the number of students earning academic and career and technical dual enrollment course credit during high school. The program shall be introduced to students beginning in August, 2021, and shall commence with enrollment on January 1, 2022.

(b) "Dual enrollment courses," as applied to the Step Ahead Program, means the approved courses in which secondary students in Grades 11 and 12 may enroll and receive both high school and college credit for postsecondary academic and career and technical coursework.

(c) Student participation in the Step Ahead Program shall be voluntary for postsecondary institutions, including public and private community colleges and institutions of higher learning, in Mississippi. Participating postsecondary institutions must agree to the requirements herein and any requirements established by regulation to receive state funding provided in Section 4(1) of this act. Nonparticipating postsecondary institutions shall not be eligible for the funding provided in Section 4(1) of this act.

SECTION 2. The Education Achievement Council, as established by Section 37-163-1, or any subgroup or task force of postsecondary Chief Academic Officers and Career and Technical Deans, established thereby, shall establish a list of approved academic and career and technical dual enrollment courses. These courses shall be the only courses eligible for state funding provided in Section 4(1) of this act.

SECTION 3. (1) Mississippi postsecondary students in Grades 11 and 12 shall be eligible to participate in the program, provided they meet the following minimum eligibility criteria:

(a) Earned fourteen (14) Core Carnegie Units as listed in Appendix B of the Mississippi Public School Accountability Standards;

(b) Achieved a minimum overall high school grade point average of 2.5 on a 4.0 scale;

(d) For Grade 12 students, have completed and filed a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form by January 1 in the relevant school year.

(2) School counselors in public school districts and charter schools shall provide general information about the Step Ahead Program to all students in Grades 10, 11 and 12, and the parents and guardians of these students, including information about the opportunity to enroll in the program through online dual enrollment courses available at the community colleges and other state institutions of higher learning. Students shall receive information about both academic and career and technical dual enrollment courses.

SECTION 4. (1) In lieu of tuition and fees, as defined in Section 37-103-25, or as charged and collected through any previous agreement, a community college or institution of higher learning shall be provided a state appropriation at the following rate for Step Ahead students:

(a) Two Hundred Twenty-five Dollars ($225.00) per three-credit hour course, or Seventy-five Dollars ($75.00) per credit hour, for a maximum of five (5) courses or fifteen (15) credit hours, for all dual enrollment courses, academic or career and technical, taught on an institution of higher learning campus, or taught mostly using resources or personnel of the institution of higher learning;

(b) One Hundred Eighty Dollars ($180.00) per three-credit hour course, or Sixty Dollars ($60.00) per credit hour, for a maximum of five (5) courses or fifteen (15) credit hours, for all dual enrollment courses, academic or career and technical, taught on a community college campus, or taught mostly using resources or personnel of the community college;

(c) Ninety Dollars ($90.00) per three-credit hour course, or Thirty Dollars ($30.00) per credit hour, to include any technology fee, for a maximum of five (5) courses or fifteen (15) credit hours, for all dual enrollment courses, academic or career and technical, delivered online by a community college or institution of higher learning; and

(d) Forty-five Dollars ($45.00) per three-credit hour course, or Fifteen Dollars ($15.00) per credit hour, for all dual enrollment courses, academic or career and technical, taught on a public school district or charter school campus, or taught mostly using resources or personnel of the public school district or charter school.

(2) Step Ahead students shall pay to the community college or institution of higher learning all other relevant technology and other fees, as established by the Education Achievement Council, as established by Section 37-163-1, or any subgroup or task force established thereby. Excessive or irregular fees shall not be charged by any participating college or institution.

(3) Community colleges and institutions of higher learning must make fee waivers available for low-income Step Ahead students. A student shall be considered low income and eligible for a fee waiver upon proof that the student is qualified to receive a free or reduced-price lunch, or other criteria established by regulation.

(4) Transportation to and from the community college or state institution of higher learning, and the cost of books or other materials, shall be the responsibility of the student.

(5) Community colleges and institutions of higher learning shall receive funding based on the prior year's enrollment, as finalized after a date established by regulation.

SECTION 5. (1) Once a student has been enrolled in the Step Ahead Program, the student shall not be displaced by another student.

(2) Step Ahead students shall take courses from the participating community college or institution of higher learning servicing their region. If a community college or institution of higher learning chooses not to participate in the Step Ahead Program, a student shall have the option of enrolling in a program at another participating community college or institution of higher learning.

(3) A community college or institution of higher learning shall not require Step Ahead students to sign an agreement or commit to continuing at that college or institution after graduation in order to receive postsecondary credit for courses, academic or career and technical, taken under the program. Step Ahead students shall have no obligation to continue taking courses at the participating community college or institution of higher learning after graduation from high school.

(4) Credits earned with a final grade of C or above in the dual enrollment courses identified in Section 2 of this act, academic or career and technical, as part of the Step Ahead Program shall transfer to any postsecondary institution in Mississippi.

SECTION 6. To encourage more participation by public school districts and charter schools in the Step Ahead Program, a final grade of C or above in a three-credit-hour dual enrollment course, academic or career and technical, shall be weighted the same as a three (3) or above in an Advanced Placement course final examination in the Mississippi Statewide Accountability System. Only courses included in the approved dual enrollment course list referenced in Section 2 of this act shall be weighted in the model.

SECTION 7. (1) The Education Achievement Council, as established by Section 37-163-1, or any subgroup or task force established thereby, shall develop and adopt regulations for the administration of the Step Ahead Program, including a procedure to track and report enrollment to the State Institutions of Higher Learning, Mississippi Community College Board, State Department of Education and Legislature.

(2) The regulations shall be written and the program shall be administered in such a way as to encourage maximum use and shall not narrow or limit the enrollment options for students eligible for the programs.

(3) Public school districts or charter schools and postsecondary institutions participating in the Step Ahead Program shall be permitted to enter into agreements under Section 37-15-38 which allow students to enroll and complete additional dual credit or dual enrollment credits, with the goal of increasing the number of students graduating high school with an associate level degree or other nationally-recognized credential. The Step Ahead Program is intended to provide funding and structure for a minimum standardized dual enrollment program across the state.

SECTION 8. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2021.