602.4 Instruction at Postsecondary Educational Institutions

Senior Year Plus Enacted by the legislature in 2008, Senior Year Plus was created to provide increased and more equal access to college credit. Courses delivered through Senior Year Plus provide students the opportunity to take rigorous college curriculum and receive both high school and college credit concurrently.

• No student shall be enrolled as a full-time student in any one postsecondary institution (24 credits per academic year).
• Successful completion of any course at a postsecondary educational institution is determined by the postsecondary educational institution.
• The Board shall have complete discretion to determine the amount of academic credit to be awarded to the student for the courses taken during the school year and for the courses taken during the summer.

Eligibility Iowa law requires students to meet certain criteria to be eligible to participate in Senior Year Plus programming. The following criteria apply to all Senior Year Plus programs and are supplemented by program-specific requirements.

• The student shall have demonstrated proficiency in reading, mathematics and science on the most recent administration of the Iowa Assessments.
• If the student is not proficient in one or more content areas of reading, mathematics, and science, an alternative but equivalent qualifying performance measurement may be utilized.
• The student shall meet the enrollment requirements established by the eligible postsecondary institution.

Concurrent Enrollment Students in grades 9 through 12 may receive secondary and postsecondary academic and/or vocational-technical credits for courses successfully completed through a postsecondary educational institution in which the school district has a contractual agreement with. The District will pay tuition costs associated for concurrent course enrollment for an eligible student. 

Students who take courses other than courses taken under an agreement between the District and the postsecondary educational institution and/or approved by the Board are responsible for tuition, transportation to and from the locations where the course is being offered, and other costs directly related to taking any postsecondary education course. The student and/or their parents shall not receive reimbursement for tuition, transportation or other expenses.

Eligible students may take credit during the summer months when school is not in session, but are responsible for tuition, transportation to and from the location where the course is being offered, and other costs directly related to taking any postsecondary education course.

The following factors are considered in the Board’s determination of whether a student will receive academic and/or vocational-technical credit toward the graduation requirements set out by the Board for a course at a postsecondary educational institution:

The course is taken from a public or accredited private post-secondary educational institution;

• a comparable course is not offered in the District. A Comparable course is one in which the subject matter or the purposes and objectives of the course are similar, in the judgment of the Board, to a course offered in the District;
• the course is in the discipline areas of mathematics, science, social sciences, humanities, and vocational-technical education;
• the course is a credit-bearing course that leads to a degree;
• the course is not religious or sectarian; and
• the course meets any other requirements set out by the Board.

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