Concurrent Credit in Arkansas: the law behind it

The statute

Act 341 of 2025

Arkansas ACCESS Act . Amending Ark. Code § 6-16-1204 and creating Ark. Code § 6-85-701 et seq..

The 2025 act that reset the program, and the reason Arkansas material written earlier describes something different. Its amendments to section 6-16-1204 define a concurrent credit course as one catalogued and approved by an Arkansas college, taught with the same standards, learning outcomes, departmental exams, and substantially the same book and syllabus as the campus version. A student is eligible by being admitted as a nondegree or noncertificate-seeking student and meeting the prerequisites. A national school lunch student pays nothing for up to six credit hours of concurrent enrollment taught on district grounds by a district-employed teacher, with the cost falling on the district, the college, or a cost-sharing arrangement. The same act created the ACCESS to Acceleration Scholarship at section 6-85-701 and following, at $65 per concurrent credit hour, up to 15 hours a semester and $2,000 in an academic year.

The administrative rule

6 CAR pt. 96

Rules Governing Grading and Course Credit .

The state rule that decides how the course lands on a high school transcript. It defines a concurrent credit course as a college-level course that earns credit at both institutions, sits in one of the four core areas of math, English, science, and social studies, meets the requirements of 6 CAR section 96-504, and appears in the Arkansas Course Transfer System. It adds that this definition does not limit a district’s ability to award concurrent credit for courses that comply with Arkansas Code 6-18-223, which is the older enrollment authority. For a weighted grade, the concurrent course has to go through the approval process the rule describes, so a family asking whether a course boosts the grade point average is asking about this document.

Who pays, and under what authority

ACCESS to Acceleration Scholarship

Arkansas Division of Higher Education, A2A scholarship .

The scholarship that replaced the repealed Concurrent Challenge Scholarship, stated in the form a family can plan against. It pays $65 per semester credit hour, up to $2,000 in an academic year, and the institution rather than the family applies for it. Because the statute pays per credit hour rather than per course, a four-credit course now draws more than a three-credit one, which is a change from how the old scholarship counted.

Agency guidance

AHECB Concurrent Enrollment Policy, revised July 25, 2025

Arkansas Division of Higher Education, concurrent enrollment policy .

The Coordinating Board policy behind the price and the quality bar. A college has to hold accreditation from the National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships or authorization from the Board to offer concurrent enrollment at all. The tuition rate for a course offered in partnership with a district may not exceed the college’s standard rate, and for every academic credit hour the agreed amount must fall between one-half percent and two and one-half percent of the per-pupil foundation amount set under Arkansas Code 6-20-2305. Institutions may cover the cost from ACCESS to Acceleration funds, from district funding, or from other agreed sources. Section 14 requires a partnership agreement or memorandum of understanding between the college and the school.

Concurrent Credit

Arkansas Division of Higher Education, concurrent credit page .

The division’s index to the documents above, and the page to check when a college and a high school describe the arrangement differently. It links the current policy and the scholarship rules, which is what settles which version of the program a student is actually in this year.

How it got here

The funding changed shape in 2025. The Concurrent Challenge Scholarship, which paid a flat amount per course, was repealed, and Act 341 created the ACCESS to Acceleration Scholarship at section 6-85-701 and following in its place, paying by the credit hour with an annual ceiling. The Coordinating Board reissued its concurrent enrollment policy on July 25, 2025 to match.

Who administers it

These are the offices that answer a question about Arkansas law rather than about one school or one campus. A district and a college can both be wrong about a state rule, and these pages are where the state's own position is published.

• Arkansas Division of Higher Education · Adopts the concurrent enrollment policy and runs the scholarship.
• Division of Elementary and Secondary Education, concurrent credit · The school-side office for concurrent credit and accelerated learning.
• ADHE scholarship system, ACCESS to Acceleration · Where the award rules and the application route are published.

Frequently asked

Can a family be billed for an Arkansas concurrent credit course?

The Coordinating Board policy fixes the charge between the college and the district rather than the family, in a band tied to the per-pupil foundation amount. Act 341 separately makes a national school lunch student free for up to six credit hours taught at the high school by a district teacher.

What happened to the Concurrent Challenge Scholarship?

It was repealed and replaced by the ACCESS to Acceleration Scholarship under Act 341 of 2025, which pays $65 per semester credit hour up to $2,000 in an academic year rather than a flat amount per course.

Does a concurrent credit course earn a weighted grade?

Only if it goes through the approval process in 6 CAR part 96. The rule also requires the course to sit in math, English, science, or social studies and to appear in the Arkansas Course Transfer System.

Why does the college have to be NACEP accredited?

The Coordinating Board policy requires either that accreditation or its own authorization before a college may offer concurrent enrollment in Arkansas. Asking which one a college holds is a fair question to put to an admissions office.