House Bill 331

AN ACT TO REQUIRE THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF STATE INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER LEARNING TO ADOPT AND IMPLEMENT A POLICY FOR THE GRANTING OF A MINIMUM NUMBER OF COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY CREDITS TO FIRST-TIME FRESHMEN STUDENTS WHO HAVE SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED AN INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE DIPLOMA PROGRAM; TO REQUIRE THE BOARD TO MAKE THE POLICY AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC; TO REQUIRE EACH STATE INSTITUTION OF HIGHER LEARNING TO ESTABLISH THE NUMBER OF CREDITS THE INSTITUTION MAY GRANT TO A STUDENT WHO HAS SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED AN INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE DIPLOMA PROGRAM; TO REQUIRE STUDENTS SCORING THREE OR HIGHER ON INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE END-OF-COURSE EXAMS TO BE GRANTED A MINIMUM NUMBER OF TWENTY-FOUR COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY CREDITS; TO AMEND SECTION 37-15-38, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, IN CONFORMITY TO THE PROVISIONS OF THIS ACT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. The Mississippi Legislature finds and declares that:

(a) It is in the best interest of the State of Mississippi to encourage the development and adoption of innovative and effective curricula for high school students;

(b) The International Baccalaureate Diploma Program is an established and well-respected program designed to provide innovative curricula worldwide;

(c) In many educational systems, secondary education includes the equivalent of a thirteenth grade, and the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program conforms to this approach with its rigorous course of study over two (2) years;

(d) A student who has successfully completed the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program is viewed as a highly attractive student by institutions of higher learning due to the student's ambition, work habits and scholarship;

(e) Nationwide, institutions of higher learning recognize the high level of academic sophistication of International Baccalaureate students, and many institutions offer considerable college credit as an inducement for those students to attend their institutions;

(f) Many Mississippi International Baccalaureate students leave the state to attend institutions of higher learning that provide attractive offers of credit; and

(g) It is in the best interest of the State of Mississippi to retain the state's best and brightest students who can establish permanent residency and subsequently contribute to the intellectual and economic vitality of the state.

SECTION 2. It is the intent of the Mississippi Legislature in enacting this act that Mississippi state institutions of higher learning be required to offer credit to International Baccalaureate students.

SECTION 3. (1) The Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning shall adopt and implement a policy requiring each state institution of higher learning under the board's management and control to grant a minimum number of college or university credits to first-time freshmen students who have successfully completed an International Baccalaureate Diploma Program.

(2) The policy adopted and implemented under subsection (1) of this section shall be made available to the public in an electronic format.

(3) Each state institution of higher learning shall establish the number of credits the institution may grant to a student who has successfully completed an International Baccalaureate Diploma Program. The number of credits granted by an institution shall be, at a minimum, twenty-four (24) college or university semester credits or their equivalent. Each state institution of higher learning shall identify the specific general education or elective requirements that the student satisfies by having successfully completed the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program and shall outline the conditions necessary for a student to receive the credits.

(4) Each state institution of higher learning may establish the level of student performance necessary for a student to be granted credits, as measured by a student's exam performance in the specific courses constituting the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program. However, an institution may not grant less than twenty-four (24) college or university semester credits or their equivalent if the student has received a score of less than three (3) or higher on each end-of-course examination administered as part of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program.

SECTION 4. Section 37-15-38, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-15-38. (1) The following phrases have the meanings ascribed in this section unless the context clearly requires otherwise:

(a) A dual enrolled student is a student who is enrolled in a community or junior college or state institution of higher learning while enrolled in high school.

(b) A dual credit student is a student who is enrolled in a community or junior college or state institution of higher learning while enrolled in high school and who is receiving high school and college credit for postsecondary coursework.

(2) A local school board, the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning and the State Board for Community Colleges shall establish a dual enrollment system under which students in the school district who meet the prescribed criteria of this section may be enrolled in a postsecondary institution in Mississippi while they are still in school.

(3) Dual credit eligibility. Before credits earned by a qualified high school student from a community or junior college or state institution of higher learning may be transferred to the student's home school district, the student must be properly enrolled in a dual enrollment program.

(4) Admission criteria for dual enrollment in community and junior college or university programs. The boards of trustees of the community and junior college districts and the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning may recommend to the State Board of Education admission criteria for dual enrollment programs under which high school students may enroll at a community or junior college or university while they are still attending high school and enrolled in high school courses. Students may be admitted to enroll in community or junior college courses under the dual enrollment programs if they meet that individual institution's stated dual enrollment admission requirements.

(5) Tuition and cost responsibility. Tuition and costs for university-level courses and community and junior college courses offered under a dual enrollment program may be paid for by the postsecondary institution, the local school district, the parents or legal guardians of the student, or by grants, foundations or other private or public sources. Payment for tuition and any other costs must be made directly to the credit-granting institution.

(6) Transportation responsibility. Any transportation required by a student to participate in the dual enrollment program is the responsibility of the parent, custodian or legal guardian of the student. Transportation costs may be paid from any available public or private sources, including the local school district.

(7) School district average daily attendance credit. When dually enrolled, the student may be counted, for adequate education program funding purposes, in the average daily attendance of the public school district in which the student attends high school.

(8) High school student transcript transfer requirements. Grades and college credits earned by a student admitted to a dual credit program must be recorded on the high school student record and on the college transcript at the university or community or junior college and high school where the student attends classes. The transcript of the university or community or junior college coursework may be released to another institution or applied toward college graduation requirements.

(9) Determining factor of prerequisites for dual enrollment courses. Each university and community or junior college participating in a dual enrollment program shall determine course prerequisites. Course prerequisites shall be the same for dual enrolled students as for regularly enrolled students at that university or community or junior college.

(10) Process for determining articulation of curriculum between high school, university, and community and junior college courses. All dual credit courses must meet the standards established at the postsecondary level. Postsecondary level developmental courses may not be considered as meeting the requirements of the dual credit program. Dual credit memorandum of understandings must be established between each postsecondary institution and the school district implementing a dual credit program.

(11) Ineligible courses for dual credit programs. Any course that is required for subject area testing as a requirement for graduation from a public school in Mississippi is not eligible for dual credit.

(12) Eligible courses for dual credit programs. Courses eligible for dual credit include, but are not necessarily limited to, foreign languages, advanced math courses, advanced science courses, performing arts, advanced business and technology, and career and technical courses. All courses being considered for dual credit must receive unconditional approval from the superintendent of the local school district and the chief instructional officer at the participating community or junior college or university in order for college credit to be awarded. A university or community or junior college shall make the final decision on what courses are eligible for semester hour credits.

(13) High school Carnegie unit equivalency. One (1) three-hour university or community or junior college course is equal to one (1) high school Carnegie unit.

(14) Course alignment. The universities, community and junior colleges and the State Department of Education shall periodically review their respective policies and assess the place of dual credit courses within the context of their traditional offerings.

(15) Maximum dual credits allowed. It is the intent of the dual enrollment program to make it possible for every eligible student who desires to earn a semester's worth of college credit in high school to do so. A qualified dually enrolled high school student must be allowed to earn an unlimited number of college or university credits for dual credit.

(16) Dual credit program allowances. A student may be granted credit delivered through the following means:

(a) Examination preparation taught at a high school by a qualified teacher. A student may receive credit at the secondary level after completion of an approved course and passing the standard examination, such as an Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate course through which a high school student is allowed CLEP credit by making a three (3) or higher on the end-of-course examination. Any student successfully completing an International Baccalaureate Diploma Program shall be awarded a minimum of twenty-four (24) college or university credits, as required under Section 3 of this act.

(b) College or university courses taught at a high school or designated postsecondary site by a qualified teacher who is an employee of the school district and approved as an instructor by the collaborating college or university.

(c) College or university courses taught at a college, university or high school by an instructor employed by the college or university and approved by the collaborating school district.

(d) Online courses of any public university, community or junior college in Mississippi.

(17) Qualifications of dual credit instructors. A dual credit academic instructor must meet the requirements set forth by the regional accrediting association (Southern Association of College and Schools). University and community and junior college personnel have the sole authority in the selection of dual credit instructors.

A dual credit career and technical education instructor must meet the requirements set forth by the State Board for Community and Junior Colleges in the qualifications manual for postsecondary career and technical personnel.

(18) Guidance on local agreements. The Chief Academic Officer of the State Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning and the Chief Instructional Officers of the State Board for Community and Junior Colleges and the State Department of Education, working collaboratively, shall develop a template to be used by the individual community and junior colleges and institutions of higher learning for consistent implementation of the dual enrollment program throughout the State of Mississippi.

(19) Mississippi Works Dual Enrollment-Dual Credit Option. A local school board and the local community colleges board shall establish a Mississippi Works Dual Enrollment-Dual Credit Option Program under which potential or recent student dropouts may dually enroll in their home school and a local community college in a dual credit program consisting of high school completion coursework and a community college credential, certificate or degree program. Students completing the dual enrollment-credit option may obtain their high school diploma while obtaining a community college credential, certificate or degree. The Mississippi Department of Employment Security shall assist students who have successfully completed the Mississippi Works Dual Enrollment-Dual Credit Option in securing a job upon the application of the student or the participating school or community college. The Mississippi Works Dual Enrollment-Dual Credit Option Program will be implemented statewide in the 2012-2013 school year and thereafter. The State Board of Education, local school board and the local community college board shall establish criteria for the Dual Enrollment-Dual Credit Program. Students enrolled in the program will not be eligible to participate in interscholastic sports or other extracurricular activities at the home school district. Tuition and costs for community college courses offered under the Dual Enrollment-Dual Credit Program shall not be charged to the student, parents or legal guardians. When dually enrolled, the student shall be counted for adequate education program funding purposes, in the average daily attendance of the public school district in which the student attends high school, as provided in Section 37-151-7(1)(a). Any transportation required by the student to participate in the Dual Enrollment-Dual Credit Program is the responsibility of the parent or legal guardian of the student, and transportation costs may be paid from any available public or private sources, including the local school district. Grades and college credits earned by a student admitted to this Dual Enrollment-Dual Credit Program shall be recorded on the high school student record and on the college transcript at the community college and high school where the student attends classes. The transcript of the community college coursework may be released to another institution or applied toward college graduation requirements. Any course that is required for subject area testing as a requirement for graduation from a public school in Mississippi is eligible for dual credit, and courses eligible for dual credit shall also include career, technical and degree program courses. All courses eligible for dual credit shall be approved by the superintendent of the local school district and the chief instructional officer at the participating community college in order for college credit to be awarded. A community college shall make the final decision on what courses are eligible for semester hour credits and the local school superintendent, subject to approval by the Mississippi Department of Education, shall make the final decision on the transfer of college courses credited to the student's high school transcript.

SECTION 5. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2013.