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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 6869
January Session, 2025
AN ACT EXPANDING DUAL ENROLLMENT AND CONCURRENT
ENROLLMENT OPPORTUNITIES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsection (h) of section 10-221a of the general statutes is 1
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2
2026): 3
(h) Only courses taken in grades nine to twelve, inclusive, and that 4
are in accordance with the state-wide subject matter content standards, 5
adopted by the State Board of Education pursuant to section 10-4, shall 6
satisfy the graduation requirements set forth in this section, except that 7
a local or regional board of education (1) may grant a student credit [(1)] 8
(A) toward meeting the high school graduation requirements upon the 9
successful demonstration of mastery of the subject matter content 10
described in this section achieved through educational experiences and 11
opportunities that provide flexible and multiple pathways to learning, 12
including cross-curricular graduation requirements, career and 13
technical education, virtual learning, work-based learning, service 14
learning, [dual enrollment and early college,] courses taken in middle 15
school, internships and student-designed independent studies, 16
provided such demonstration of mastery is in accordance with such 17
state-wide subject matter content standards; [(2)] (B) toward meeting a 18
specified course requirement upon the successful completion in grade 19 Substitute Bill No. 6869
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seven or eight of any course, the primary focus of which corresponds 20
directly to the subject matter of a specified course requirement in grades 21
nine to twelve, inclusive; [(3)] (C) toward meeting the high school 22
graduation requirement upon the successful completion of a world 23
language course [(A)] (i) in grade six, seven or eight, [(B)] (ii) through 24
on-line coursework, or [(C)] (iii) offered privately through a nonprofit 25
provider, provided such student achieves a passing grade on an 26
examination prescribed, within available appropriations, by the 27
Commissioner of Education and such credits do not exceed four; [(4)] 28
(D) toward meeting the high school graduation requirement upon 29
achievement of a passing grade on a subject area proficiency 30
examination identified and approved, within available appropriations, 31
by the Commissioner of Education, regardless of the number of hours 32
the student spent in a public school classroom learning such subject 33
matter; [(5)] (E) toward meeting the high school graduation requirement 34
upon the successful completion of coursework during the school year or 35
summer months at an institution accredited by the Board of Regents for 36
Higher Education or Office of Higher Education or regionally 37
accredited. One three-credit semester course, or its equivalent, at such 38
an institution shall equal one-half credit for purposes of this section; [(6)] 39
(F) toward meeting the high school graduation requirement upon the 40
successful completion of on-line coursework, provided the local or 41
regional board of education has adopted a policy in accordance with this 42
subdivision for the granting of credit for on-line coursework. Such a 43
policy shall ensure, at a minimum, that [(A)] (i) the workload required 44
by the on-line course is equivalent to that of a similar course taught in a 45
traditional classroom setting, [(B)] (ii) the content is rigorous and 46
aligned with curriculum guidelines approved by the State Board of 47
Education, where appropriate, [(C)] (iii) the course engages students 48
and has interactive components, which may include, but are not limited 49
to, required interactions between students and their teachers, 50
participation in on-line demonstrations, discussion boards or virtual 51
labs, [(D)] (iv) the program of instruction for such on-line coursework is 52
planned, ongoing and systematic, and [(E)] (v) the courses are [(i)] (I) 53
taught by teachers who are certified in the state or another state and 54 Substitute Bill No. 6869
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have received training on teaching in an on-line environment, or [(ii)] 55
(II) offered by institutions of higher education that are accredited by the 56
Board of Regents for Higher Education or Office of Higher Education or 57
regionally accredited; or [(7)] (G) toward meeting the high school 58
graduation requirement upon the successful completion of a credit 59
recovery program approved by the Commissioner of Education, and (2) 60
shall grant a student credit toward meeting the high school graduation 61
requirement upon the successful completion of a dual enrollment or 62
concurrent enrollment course, as defined in section 4 of this act, 63
provided such local or regional board of education approves the 64
student's enrollment in such dual enrollment or concurrent enrollment 65
course. 66
Sec. 2. Section 10-221x of the general statutes is amended by adding 67
subsection (d) as follows (Effective January 1, 2026): 68
(NEW) (d) Not later than February 1, 2026, and annually thereafter, 69
the Department of Education shall notify parents of public school 70
students in grades eight to eleven, inclusive, about opportunities to 71
pursue a challenging curriculum and the availability of courses that 72
grant postsecondary credit. 73
Sec. 3. Section 10-221w of the general statutes is repealed and the 74
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2025): 75
(a) As used in this section: 76
(1) "Advanced course or program" means an honors class, advanced 77
placement class, International Baccalaureate program, Cambridge 78
International program, dual enrollment, dual credit, early college or any 79
other advanced or accelerated course or program offered by a local or 80
regional board of education in grades nine to twelve, inclusive; and 81
(2) "Prior academic performance" means the course or courses that a 82
student has taken, the grades received for such course or courses and a 83
student's grade point average. 84 Substitute Bill No. 6869
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(b) Not later than July 1, 2022, each local and regional board of 85
education shall adopt a policy, or revise an existing policy, concerning 86
the eligibility criteria for student enrollment in an advanced course or 87
program. Such policy shall provide for multiple methods by which a 88
student may satisfy the eligibility criteria for enrollment in an advanced 89
course or program, including, but not limited to, recommendations 90
from teachers, administrators, school counselors or other school 91
personnel. Such eligibility criteria shall not be based exclusively on a 92
student's prior academic performance and any use of a student's prior 93
academic performance shall rely on evidence-based indicators of how a 94
student will perform in an advanced course or program. 95
(c) Any policy adopted or revised and implemented under this 96
section shall be in accordance with guidance provided by the 97
Department of Education. 98
(d) Not later than July 1, 2026, the Commissioner of Education shall, 99
in partnership with the constituent units of the state system of higher 100
education and independent institutions of higher education, as defined 101
in section 10a-173, develop a model agreement between secondary 102
schools and postsecondary institutions for the provision of dual 103
enrollment courses and concurrent enrollment courses, as such terms 104
are defined in section 4 of this act, and postsecondary credit courses to 105
students in grades nine to twelve, inclusive. 106
Sec. 4. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2025) (a) As used in this section: 107
(1) "Concurrent enrollment course" means a postsecondary education 108
course in any academic subject or career-oriented pathway delivered at 109
a high school through which a high school student is simultaneously 110
enrolled in an institution of higher education and is taught by a high 111
school teacher approved by such institution of higher education; and 112
(2) "Dual enrollment course" means a postsecondary education 113
course in any academic subject or career-oriented pathway through 114
which a high school student is simultaneously enrolled in an institution 115
of higher education and is taught by a faculty member of such 116 Substitute Bill No. 6869
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institution of higher education. 117
(b) Not later than July 1, 2028, each institution of higher education in 118
the state that currently offers a concurrent enrollment course shall 119
obtain accreditation for such course from the National Alliance of 120
Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships, unless the Department of 121
Education approves an extension of time for an accreditation in writing. 122
(c) Any institution of higher education in the state that establishes a 123
new concurrent enrollment course shall obtain accreditation for such 124
course from the National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment 125
Partnerships not later than three years after establishing such course, 126
unless the Department of Education approves an extension of time for 127
an accreditation in writing. 128
(d) Not later than August 1, 2025, and annually thereafter, each 129
institution of higher education that offers a dual enrollment or 130
concurrent enrollment course shall report to the Department of 131
Education, in a form and manner prescribed by the Commissioner of 132
Education, for each high school student who enrolled in a dual 133
enrollment or concurrent enrollment course during the preceding 134
academic year (1) such student's name, date of birth, student 135
identification number, the name of the high school where such student 136
was enrolled and the code assigned to such high school by the 137
department, (2) for each dual enrollment or concurrent enrollment 138
course in which such student was enrolled, the course name, the subject 139
matter or academic department associated with the course, the course 140
code assigned to such course by the department, the location where each 141
course was provided and the academic term and year in which such 142
student enrolled in such course, (3) the grade and credits earned by such 143
student for each dual enrollment or concurrent enrollment course, (4) 144
whether such course was a dual enrollment or concurrent enrollment 145
course, and (5) any other information requested by the department. 146
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
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Section 1 July 1, 2026 10-221a(h)
Sec. 2 January 1, 2026 10-221x(d)
Sec. 3 July 1, 2025 10-221w
Sec. 4 July 1, 2025 New section
HED Joint Favorable Subst.
ED Joint Favorable