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North Carolina House Bill H426

North Carolina 2025-2026 Regular Session

North Carolina House Bill H426 Compare Versions

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11 GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
22 SESSION 2025
3-H 1
4-HOUSE BILL 426
3+H D
4+HOUSE BILL DRH40144-NGa-13
5+
56
67
78 Short Title: Workforce Diploma Program. (Public)
8-Sponsors: Representatives Cotham and Stevens (Primary Sponsors).
9-For a complete list of sponsors, refer to the North Carolina General Assembly web site.
10-Referred to: Education - K-12, if favorable, Appropriations, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and
11-Operations of the House
12-March 19, 2025
13-*H426 -v-1*
9+Sponsors: Representative Cotham.
10+Referred to:
11+
12+*DRH40144 -NGa-13*
1413 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
1514 AN ACT TO ESTABLISH THE WORKFORCE DIPLOMA PROGRAM AND TO 2
1615 APPROPRIATE FUNDS FOR THAT PURPOSE. 3
1716 The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 4
1817 5
1918 PART I. WORKFORCE DIPLOMA PROGRAM 6
2019 SECTION 1.(a) Program; Purpose. – The Community Colleges System Office shall 7
2120 establish the Workforce Diploma Program (Program) for the 2025-2026 and the 2026-2027 fiscal 8
2221 years. The purpose of the Program is to assist eligible students to obtain a high school diploma 9
2322 and develop employability and career and technical skills. The System Office shall contract with 10
2423 each qualifying third-party entity to separately administer a statewide version of the Program. 11
2524 SECTION 1.(b) Definitions. – For purposes of this section, the following definitions 12
2625 shall apply: 13
2726 (1) Eligible student. – Any adult who meets the following criteria: 14
2827 a. Is 21 years of age or older. 15
2928 b. Is a resident of North Carolina. 16
3029 c. Has not earned a high school diploma or its equivalent. 17
3130 (2) Employability skills certification. – A certificate earned by demonstrating 18
3231 professional nontechnical skills through assessment and must include the 19
3332 program standards of the United States Department of Labor's "Skills to Pay 20
3433 the Bills: Mastering Soft Skills for Workplace Success." 21
3534 (3) Half credit. – Equivalent to one course or a semester of study. 22
3635 (4) Participant. – An eligible student who is participating in the Program. 23
3736 (5) Qualifying third-party entity. – An entity that meets all of the following 24
3837 requirements: 25
3938 a. Did the following in the past five years: 26
4039 1. Administered at least three statewide adult high school 27
4140 diploma programs outside of the State. 28
4241 2. For any program described in sub-sub-subdivision 1. of this 29
4342 sub-subdivision, maintained a graduation rate of at least fifty 30
4443 percent (50%) based on a two-year cohort beginning with the 31
4544 second cohort of the program. 32
46-b. Is accredited by an external, regional accrediting agency. 33 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
47-Page 2 House Bill 426-First Edition
48-c. Offers a course catalog that aligns with curriculum requirements for a 1
49-high school diploma in the State. 2
50-SECTION 1.(c) Program Requirements. – The Program shall do at least the 3
51-following: 4
52-(1) Provide one or more courses that help participants obtain a high school 5
53-diploma and enter or advance within a specific occupation or occupational 6
54-cluster. Course completion shall be competency-based. 7
55-(2) Assist participants in obtaining employment, including resume development 8
56-and mock interviews. 9
57-(3) Include at least the following: 10
58-a. Proactive communication with participants regarding their pace and 11
59-progress through learning plans. 12
60-b. A plan for courses and credits needed for each participant that 13
61-integrates graduation requirements and career goals. 14
62-c. Mentoring services. 15
63-d. Milestone tracking. 16
64-e. Academic skill intake assessments and transcript evaluations. 17
65-f. A catalog of courses necessary to meet graduation requirements. 18
66-g. Remediation opportunities in literacy and numeracy. 19
67-h. Employability skills certifications. 20
68-i. Preparation for workforce credentials. 21
69-j. Career advising services. 22
70-k. Access to online tutoring services at any time. 23
71-SECTION 1.(d) Allocation of Funds. – Funds shall be provided to each qualifying 24
72-third-party entity on a per participant basis, up to seven thousand five hundred dollars ($7,500) 25
73-per participant, based on the completion of milestones, as follows: 26
74-(1) Two hundred seventy-five dollars ($275.00) for the completion of each half 27
75-credit. 28
76-(2) Two hundred seventy-five dollars ($275.00) for the completion of an 29
77-employability skills certification program equivalent to one credit. 30
78-(3) Two hundred seventy-five dollars ($275.00) for the attainment of an 31
79-industry-recognized credential requiring up to 50 hours of training. 32
80-(4) Five hundred fifty dollars ($550.00) for the attainment of an 33
81-industry-recognized credential requiring between 51 and 100 hours of 34
82-training. 35
83-(5) Eight hundred twenty-five dollars ($825.00) for the attainment of an 36
84-industry-recognized credential requiring more than 100 hours of training. 37
85-(6) One thousand one hundred dollars ($1,100) for the attainment of a high school 38
86-diploma. 39
87-SECTION 1.(e) Report. – The State Board of Community Colleges, in consultation 40
88-with each qualifying third-party entity, shall submit an interim report by August 15, 2026, and a 41
89-final report by August 15, 2027, to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee and the 42
90-Fiscal Research Division on the impact of the Program, including at least the following 43
91-information: 44
92-(1) The number of participants. 45
93-(2) The number of credits earned by participants. 46
94-(3) The number of employability skills certifications issued to participants. 47
95-(4) The number and type of workforce credentials earned by participants. 48
96-(5) The number of participants who received a high school diploma. 49
97-(6) The average funding provided per participant who received a high school 50
98-diploma. 51 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
99-House Bill 426-First Edition Page 3
100-(7) The percentage of participants who received a high school diploma. 1
101- 2
102-PART II. APPROPRIATION 3
103-SECTION 2.(a) There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Community 4
104-Colleges System Office the sum of five million dollars ($5,000,000) in nonrecurring funds for 5
105-the 2025-2026 fiscal year to establish and implement the Workforce Diploma Program described 6
106-in Section 1 of this act. These funds shall not revert at the end of the 2025-2026 fiscal year but 7
107-shall remain available until the end of the 2026-2027 fiscal year. 8
108-SECTION 2.(b) Of the funds appropriated in subsection (a) of this section, the 9
109-System Office shall use up to one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) to hire one full-time 10
110-equivalent position to administer the Program. 11
111- 12
112-PART III. EFFECTIVE DATE 13
113-SECTION 3. This act becomes effective July 1, 2025. 14
45+b. Is accredited by an external, regional accrediting agency. 33
46+c. Offers a course catalog that aligns with curriculum requirements for a 34
47+high school diploma in the State. 35
48+H.B. 426
49+Mar 17, 2025
50+HOUSE PRINCIPAL CLERK General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
51+Page 2 DRH40144-NGa-13
52+SECTION 1.(c) Program Requirements. – The Program shall do at least the 1
53+following: 2
54+(1) Provide one or more courses that help participants obtain a high school 3
55+diploma and enter or advance within a specific occupation or occupational 4
56+cluster. Course completion shall be competency-based. 5
57+(2) Assist participants in obtaining employment, including resume development 6
58+and mock interviews. 7
59+(3) Include at least the following: 8
60+a. Proactive communication with participants regarding their pace and 9
61+progress through learning plans. 10
62+b. A plan for courses and credits needed for each participant that 11
63+integrates graduation requirements and career goals. 12
64+c. Mentoring services. 13
65+d. Milestone tracking. 14
66+e. Academic skill intake assessments and transcript evaluations. 15
67+f. A catalog of courses necessary to meet graduation requirements. 16
68+g. Remediation opportunities in literacy and numeracy. 17
69+h. Employability skills certifications. 18
70+i. Preparation for workforce credentials. 19
71+j. Career advising services. 20
72+k. Access to online tutoring services at any time. 21
73+SECTION 1.(d) Allocation of Funds. – Funds shall be provided to each qualifying 22
74+third-party entity on a per participant basis, up to seven thousand five hundred dollars ($7,500) 23
75+per participant, based on the completion of milestones, as follows: 24
76+(1) Two hundred seventy-five dollars ($275.00) for the completion of each half 25
77+credit. 26
78+(2) Two hundred seventy-five dollars ($275.00) for the completion of an 27
79+employability skills certification program equivalent to one credit. 28
80+(3) Two hundred seventy-five dollars ($275.00) for the attainment of an 29
81+industry-recognized credential requiring up to 50 hours of training. 30
82+(4) Five hundred fifty dollars ($550.00) for the attainment of an 31
83+industry-recognized credential requiring between 51 and 100 hours of 32
84+training. 33
85+(5) Eight hundred twenty-five dollars ($825.00) for the attainment of an 34
86+industry-recognized credential requiring more than 100 hours of training. 35
87+(6) One thousand one hundred dollars ($1,100) for the attainment of a high school 36
88+diploma. 37
89+SECTION 1.(e) Report. – The State Board of Community Colleges, in consultation 38
90+with each qualifying third-party entity, shall submit an interim report by August 15, 2026, and a 39
91+final report by August 15, 2027, to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee and the 40
92+Fiscal Research Division on the impact of the Program, including at least the following 41
93+information: 42
94+(1) The number of participants. 43
95+(2) The number of credits earned by participants. 44
96+(3) The number of employability skills certifications issued to participants. 45
97+(4) The number and type of workforce credentials earned by participants. 46
98+(5) The number of participants who received a high school diploma. 47
99+(6) The average funding provided per participant who received a high school 48
100+diploma. 49
101+(7) The percentage of participants who received a high school diploma. 50
102+ 51 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
103+DRH40144-NGa-13 Page 3
104+PART II. APPROPRIATION 1
105+SECTION 2.(a) There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Community 2
106+Colleges System Office the sum of five million dollars ($5,000,000) in nonrecurring funds for 3
107+the 2025-2026 fiscal year to establish and implement the Workforce Diploma Program described 4
108+in Section 1 of this act. These funds shall not revert at the end of the 2025-2026 fiscal year but 5
109+shall remain available until the end of the 2026-2027 fiscal year. 6
110+SECTION 2.(b) Of the funds appropriated in subsection (a) of this section, the 7
111+System Office shall use up to one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) to hire one full-time 8
112+equivalent position to administer the Program. 9
113+ 10
114+PART III. EFFECTIVE DATE 11
115+SECTION 3. This act becomes effective July 1, 2025. 12