Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google


Law Aims to Sort Out Credit Transfer

  • By Dian Schaffhauser
  • 04/11/18

A new Virginia law is intended to improve the credit students get for taking college classes while in high school and to make sure those credits stick when they enter four-year institutions.

The legislation, signed into law last Friday, calls for the State Board for Community Colleges to work with three other agencies — the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, the Department of Education and the Virginia Association of School Superintendents — to create and implement a plan with two main goals:

  • To set standards of "quality, consistency and level of evaluation and review" for dual-enrollment courses offered in high schools that align with the same standards for those classes taught in community colleges; and
  • To develop a process for assessing the transferability of those course credits to any college or university in the state.

Those credits could be transferred as part of a passport program, which several institutions already support, or as a "uniform certificate of general studies," a "general elective course" or some other type of college credit that meets the requirements set by the four-year school.

National research has shown that dual enrolment is a way to increase post-secondary participation. Initially, when dual enrollment was formalized in 2008 in the state, the credit agreements were typically made at the local level — between a school district and the local community college. The new regulation expands that credit largesse to encompass a broader set of higher ed stakeholders — the four-year institutions.

Sponsoring lawmaker Steven Landes (R-Weyers Cave) said in a statement that he was "especially pleased with the enactment of House Bill 3" because its passage would "ensure that students who attempt to cut down on the cost of college by completing dual enrollment courses in high school will actually receive the credit they are due."

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • digital graph

    Building Genuinely Data-Informed School Districts

    Schools today generate enormous amounts of data. The difference between collecting it and using it effectively often comes down to quality, access, and context.

  • Neon blue security locks with a single red highlight

    With AI, Cybersecurity Focus Shifts from Finding Flaws to Fixing Them

    For decades, one of cybersecurity's biggest challenges has been finding vulnerabilities before attackers do. A growing number of security professionals now say artificial intelligence is changing that equation, shifting the focus from discovering flaws to fixing them quickly enough to prevent exploitation.

  • Top View Shot in Elementary School Computer Science Classroom

    Education's Top 5 Technology Priorities and the Challenges Standing in the Way

    Cybersecurity ranks as the No. 1 priority for education technology leaders in the United States, according to the latest State of Ed Tech report from CoSN, yet insufficient cybersecurity staffing and the lack of a dedicated budget are key barriers.

  • Engineering team implements digital guardrails on AI

    3 Starting Points for Integrating AI Guardrails in K-12 Districts

    As education leaders start to craft an AI policy that is both practical and flexible enough to evolve with this fast-changing technology, there is at least one principle that should be foundational: AI should serve to augment human critical thinking and creativity but never replace human interaction and decision-making.