Lawmakers air concerns over changes to concurrent enrollment standards

A joint House and Senate higher education panel on Thursday aired concerns over changes to national accreditation standards for a program that allows high school students to take college courses for credit taught by high school teachers.

Officials from the Higher Learning Commission, one of six national groups responsible for post-secondary institution accrediting, took questions from members of the House Higher Education Policy and Finance Committee and Senate Higher Education and Workforce Development Division over changes to accreditation criteria that would impact educators who direct concurrent education programs across the country.

Lawmakers and testifiers said it was unclear how the new standards would impact concurrent enrollment programs in the state. The programs allow high school students to earn college credits while still enrolled in high school.   

WATCH Full video of Thursday’s hearing on YouTube