Connecticut 2019 2019 Regular Session

Connecticut Senate Bill SB00026 Comm Sub / Bill

Filed 04/02/2019

                     
 
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General Assembly  Committee Bill No.  26  
January Session, 2019  
LCO No. 5129 
 
 
Referred to Committee on HIGHER EDUCATION AND 
EMPLOYMENT ADVANCEMENT 
 
 
Introduced by:  
(HED)  
 
 
 
AN ACT MAKING PERMAN ENT THE MORATORIUM O N THE 
APPROVAL OF PROGRAMS AT INDEPENDENT INSTITUTIONS OF 
HIGHER EDUCATION.  
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General 
Assembly convened: 
 
Section 1. Subsection (l) of section 10a-34 of the general statutes is 1 
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 2 
1, 2019): 3 
(l) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (b) to (j), 4 
inclusive, of this section and subject to the authority of the State Board 5 
of Education to regulate teacher education programs, up to twelve new 6 
programs of higher learning in any academic year and any program 7 
modifications proposed by an independent institution of higher 8 
education, as defined in section 10a-173, shall not be subject to 9 
approval by the Office of Higher Education, [until July 1, 2020,] 10 
provided (1) the institution maintains eligibility to participate in 11 
financial aid programs governed by Title IV, Part B of the Higher 12 
Education Act of 1965, as amended from time to time, (2) the United 13 
States Department of Education has not determined that the institution 14  Committee Bill No. 26 
 
 
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has a financial responsibility score that is less than 1.5 for the most 15 
recent fiscal year for which the data necessary for determining the 16 
score is available, and (3) the institution has been located in the state 17 
and accredited as a degree-granting institution in good standing for 18 
ten years or more by a regional accrediting association recognized by 19 
the Secretary of the United States Department of Education and 20 
maintains such accreditation status. Each institution that is exempt 21 
from program approval by the Office of Higher Education under this 22 
subsection shall file with the office (A) an application for approval of 23 
any new program of higher learning in excess of twelve new programs 24 
in any academic year, (B) a program actions form, as created by the 25 
office, prior to students enrolling in any new program of higher 26 
learning or any existing program subject to a program modification, 27 
and (C) not later than July first, and annually thereafter, (i) a list and 28 
brief description of any new programs of higher learning introduced 29 
by the institution in the preceding academic year and any existing 30 
programs of higher learning discontinued by the institution in the 31 
preceding academic year, (ii) the institution's current program 32 
approval process and all actions of the governing board concerning 33 
approval of any new program of higher learning, and (iii) the 34 
institution's financial responsibility composite score, as determined by 35 
the United States Department of Education, for the most recent fiscal 36 
year for which the data necessary for determining the score is 37 
available.  38 
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following 
sections: 
 
Section 1 July 1, 2019 10a-34(l) 
 
HED Joint Favorable