Concurrent Enrollment in Iowa: the law behind it

The statute

Iowa Code § 261E.8

District-to-community college sharing or concurrent enrollment program .

The section behind the bigger of Iowa’s two programs. It requires the program to be made available to all resident students in grades nine through twelve, and requires notice of it in the district’s student registration handbook with the courses that generate college credit identified. Students at an accredited nonpublic school and students receiving competent or independent private instruction reach the program through the district where the school or the student sits, and an accredited nonpublic school may instead contract directly with a community college. The section also carries the data the state collects on who takes part.

Iowa Code § 261E.3

Senior Year Plus eligibility .

The gate that applies across all four programs, which is why a counselor describes the same test for two of them. A student has to meet the enrolling institution’s requirements, complete the prerequisites, get approval from the school board and the institution, and demonstrate proficiency in reading, mathematics, and science on the statewide assessment or on a measure the school board and the college agreed to. Grade eleven and twelve students qualify, along with ninth and tenth graders the district has identified as gifted and talented.

Iowa Code § 261E.6

Postsecondary enrollment options program .

The narrower program, for the course a district cannot supply. A student may enroll at a postsecondary institution under it only where the district or accredited nonpublic school does not offer a comparable course. The institution may not charge the student for tuition, textbooks, materials, or fees directly related to the course, though a student may buy equipment that becomes the student’s property. Transportation to and from the campus is the parent or guardian’s, with no mileage provision attached, which is one reason concurrent enrollment inside the building is the larger program.

The administrative rule

281 IAC 22

Senior Year Plus Program .

Nine divisions of operating detail, of which three matter to a family. Rule 22.7(2) of that chapter states that regardless of whether a district receives supplementary weighted funding, it will not charge tuition to any of its students in a concurrent enrollment course. Rule 22.7(1) bars auditing, so a student takes the course for college credit or not at all. Rule 22.2 treats an unexcused absence from the most recent statewide assessment as a finding of not proficient in every content area, which is a quiet way to lose eligibility. Rule 22.13 repeats that transportation for a PSEO course belongs to the parent.

Who pays, and under what authority

Iowa Code § 261E.7

Postsecondary enrollment options program payments, claims, and reimbursements .

Who pays, and the one paragraph an Iowa parent should read before signing a PSEO registration form. The district reimburses the postsecondary institution the lesser of the actual and customary cost of tuition, textbooks, materials, and fees for the course or $250. If the student does not complete the course and receive credit, the student is responsible for the district’s costs and has to repay them, and a parent or guardian of a student under 18 signs the registration form acknowledging that. Documented physical incapacity, a death in the immediate family, or a move to another district waives the repayment.

Agency guidance

Senior Year Plus

Iowa Department of Education, Senior Year Plus .

The department’s own page across the four programs, and the fastest way to see which one a particular course belongs to. Because eligibility runs through one section of statute for all of them, a family sorting out an Advanced Placement option against a concurrent enrollment option is comparing two doors with the same lock.

Measures of College Readiness for Senior Year Plus Programs

Iowa Department of Education, college readiness measures .

How a student who did not hit the statewide assessment mark can still qualify. The rule lets a school board and a community college agree on other measures of college readiness, and this document is where those measures are described, along with the career and technical exemption from the proficiency requirement. A student turned away on a test score should ask which alternate measure the district and the college have agreed to.

Who administers it

These are the offices that answer a question about Iowa 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.

• Iowa Department of Education, Senior Year Plus · Runs the four programs and publishes the readiness measures.
• Iowa Legislature, Iowa Code chapter 261E · Where the statute and its sections are published.
• Iowa Legislature, administrative rules, 281 IAC 22 · The rules the department applies to districts and community colleges.

Frequently asked

Can a ninth grader take concurrent enrollment in Iowa?

Yes. Section 261E.8 requires the program to be available to all resident students in grades nine through twelve. For the postsecondary enrollment options program, a ninth or tenth grader has to be identified by the district as gifted and talented under section 261E.3.

What happens if a student drops a PSEO course?

Section 261E.7 makes the student responsible for the district’s costs, capped at $250 per course, and a parent signs the registration form acknowledging it. Documented illness, a death in the immediate family, or a move to another district waives the repayment.

Can a district charge tuition for a concurrent enrollment course?

No. Rule 281 IAC 22.7(2) states that whether or not the district receives supplementary weighted funding, it will not charge tuition to any of its students who participate in a concurrent enrollment course.

Do home school students have access?

Yes. Section 261E.8 reaches students receiving competent private instruction or independent private instruction through the district, and rule 281 IAC 22.7(4) lets them take concurrent enrollment courses without the course limit that applies elsewhere.