Concurrent Enrollment in Oklahoma: the law behind it

The statute

70 O.S. § 628.13

Concurrent enrollment in high school and college or university courses .

The section behind the waiver every Oklahoma family hears about. An eligible senior is entitled to a waiver equal to resident tuition for up to 18 credit hours in the senior year, and an eligible junior to one for up to nine, so long as the senior program is fully funded. It also bars an institution from refusing enrollment to a student between 13 and 21 who is receiving high-school-level instruction at home and who meets the requirements. Its last piece is the one counselors get asked about: the district has to grant academic credit for a correlated college course, and may record it as elective credit only when nothing in its own catalog corresponds.

70 O.S. § 11-103.6

Subject matter standards and graduation requirements .

The provision that answers who pays when the waiver runs out. The district is not responsible for the cost of a concurrent course, with one exception: if the district does not offer enough course selection across a student’s high school years for the student to meet the graduation requirements in this section, the district picks up resident tuition, fees, books, and transportation between the school and the campus. The section also lets a concurrent course satisfy graduation requirements, and states the Legislature’s intent that a college bill only the supplementary and special service fees tied to the course when the district is paying.

Who pays, and under what authority

Concurrent enrollment tuition waiver

Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, Growth of Concurrent Enrollment Reflects Value of Program (September 2019) .

The waiver as the State Regents described it in September 2019, including the point that fiscal year 2020 funding paid for the senior program in full. Reading this next to the statute is worth a few minutes, because the statute conditions the junior waiver on the senior program being funded first, which is the sentence behind a college telling one family yes and another family wait.

Agency guidance

State Regents policy 3.10, Concurrent Enrollment

Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, Chapter 3 Academic Affairs .

The document that decides most disputes, because Oklahoma has no administrative code chapter for the program. Policy 3.10 sets the admission floor by institution type: an ACT or SAT at the 42nd percentile or a 3.0 unweighted grade point average at a community college, the 50th percentile or a 3.0 with a class rank in the top half at a regional university, and the 67th percentile or a 3.0 with a rank in the top third at a research university. It caps combined high school and college work at 19 semester credit hours, counting a half high school unit as three college hours. It requires a college grade point average of 2.0 to keep enrolling. It also requires a memorandum of understanding between the college and each off-campus site.

How it got here

The waiver was not always paid for the way it is now. The State Regents reported that campuses were reimbursed for about 26 percent of what concurrent enrollment cost them in fiscal year 2018, that an added $7.5 million in fiscal year 2019 raised that to roughly 87 percent, and that the Legislature funded the senior program fully in the 2019 session. That sequence is why the junior waiver still carries a funding condition and the senior waiver does not.

Who administers it

These are the offices that answer a question about Oklahoma 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.

• Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education · Sets the admission and workload policy and administers the tuition waiver.
• State Regents Policy and Procedures Manual · Where Chapter 3 and policy 3.10 are published and revised.
• Oklahoma State Department of Education, academic advisement resources · The school-side page counselors work from on concurrent enrollment.
• OKcollegeStart, Concurrent Enrollment · The state planning portal where a family reads the hour limits by grade.

Frequently asked

Is there an Oklahoma administrative rule for concurrent enrollment?

None turned up under Title 610 of the Oklahoma Administrative Code, which is the State Regents title. The program runs on 70 O.S. 628.13 and on State Regents policy 3.10, so the policy manual is the operating document.

Can a district be made to pay for a concurrent course?

Only in the case 70 O.S. 11-103.6 describes. If the district does not offer enough courses for a student to meet the graduation requirements in that section, it owes resident tuition, fees, books, and transportation for the concurrent course.

Does the statute cover a student taught at home?

Yes. Section 628.13 bars an institution from denying enrollment to a student at least 13 and under 21 who is receiving high-school-level instruction at home, provided the student meets the concurrent enrollment requirements.

Where does the 19-hour combined load come from?

From policy 3.10, not from the statute. It caps combined high school and college enrollment at a full-time college load of 19 semester credit hours, treating a half high school unit as three college hours, with a petition route for more.

Does the high school have to give credit for the college course?

Section 628.13 requires the district to grant academic credit for a concurrent course that correlates with credit the college awarded, and allows elective credit only where no correlation exists.