This week, the House Higher Education heard proponent testimony on House Bill 219, sponsored by Representative Bird.
House Bill 219 will make the following changes to the College Credit Plus Program:
- Each participating college shall endeavor to use open-source materials for courses open to CCP students.
- If participating colleges choose to use purchase-only textbooks when there are open-source materials available, the college shall pay for the student’s textbook.
- If participating colleges choose to use a purchase-only textbook when there are no open-source materials available, the college shall pay 50% of the purchase-only textbook cost and the student’s secondary school shall pay 50% of the textbook’s cost. (Current law requires that the local school district pays the entire cost of books, materials, supplies, and tuition)
- The chancellor shall establish an alternative credentialing process to certify instructors with relevant teaching experience as an instructor without requiring any additional graduate-level coursework.
- The chancellor and state superintendent shall collect data relative to the actual cost of CCP programming and submit that data to the Auditor of State, who shall then submit findings to the general assembly.
- The participating college must inform the student’s local school district should the student withdraw from a course.
The legislation will continue to have hearings in the Higher Education Committee.
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