Accelerated learning in Oregon: the law behind it

The statute

ORS 340.015

Notification to students and parents or guardians .

The letter the district owes every household before February 15 each year. It has to reach all high school students and their parents or guardians, and the statute lists what it must contain: the financial arrangements for tuition, textbooks, equipment and materials, the transportation available, how the courses count toward graduation requirements, and what happens if a student fails or does not finish. A family that never received it can ask for it, because the duty to send does not depend on anyone asking.

ORS 340.025

Notification by student to school district; review of graduation requirements .

The student’s half of the calendar. A student who wants to take part tells the resident school district, before May 15, of the intent to enroll in eligible post-secondary courses during the following school year. A student who enrolls in the district later gets 20 business days from the date of enrollment to say so instead. Missing May 15 closes the following year rather than the current one, which is why a sophomore spring is the right time to decide.

ORS 340.040

Credits for post-secondary courses; notification; appeal .

How much of the program a student may use and what the district must tell them first. Participation is capped at the equivalent of two academic years, or one academic year for a student who starts in grade 12, prorated for a mid-year start. Before the course begins, the district has to notify the student of the number and type of credits that will be granted on successful completion, and a dispute about that number goes to an appeals process the school board adopts. Credits granted count toward state and district graduation and subject area requirements, and the education record has to show they were earned at a post-secondary institution.

ORS 340.050

Payment of costs for post-secondary courses; transportation .

Who pays, and what a family gets back. An eligible post-secondary institution that receives payment for a student may not charge that student for tuition, fees, or other required instructional costs. A student who bought textbooks, fees, equipment or materials for the course may apply to the resident district for reimbursement, and anything the district paid for stays the district’s property at the end. A student enrolled this way is not eligible for state student financial aid, and the district may provide transportation.

ORS 340.300

School districts to provide accelerated college credit programs .

The access floor, and the shortest section here. Every school district must either provide students in grades 9 through 12 with accelerated college credit programs, including programs in language arts, mathematics and science, or ensure those students have online access to them. Dual credit, two-plus-two, Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate all count toward the duty, so a high school offering none of the four is outside the statute rather than simply short of options.

ORS 340.310

Statewide standards for dual credit programs; report .

Why a dual credit course in Klamath Falls is supposed to resemble one in Hillsboro. The Higher Education Coordinating Commission develops statewide standards for dual credit programs, and every public high school, community college and public university that runs one must implement them. The standards set how a student in any grade from 9 through 12 earns credit at both levels and how the high school teacher and the college faculty align content and outcomes. Each district, college and university also files an annual report on how its dual credit students performed.

The administrative rule

OAR 715-017-0005

Higher Education Coordinating Commission, high school based college credit partnerships .

The rule underneath the standards, adopted in December 2018 under ORS 340.310. It defines the three partnership types Oregon recognises, dual credit, sponsored dual credit, and assessment based learning credit, and requires each college or university to follow the Oregon Standards for the type it offers and to submit an annual report covering enrollment, instructor qualifications, costs, and the high schools served. Approved status is tied to funding, which is the practical reason a college keeps its partnership in good standing.

OAR 581-022-2025

Oregon Department of Education, credit options .

The rule the high school uses when it puts the credit on the transcript. A district grants required and elective credit toward the diploma when the method of earning it is described in the student’s personal education plan and the student demonstrates proficiency through one of the listed routes, among them completing classroom or equivalent work aligned to the state content standards. Getting the college course written into the education plan before it starts is what keeps the graduation credit from becoming an argument in June.

Agency guidance

Accelerated learning policy and pathways

Higher Education Coordinating Commission, accelerated learning .

The commission’s own explanation of the standards and the vocabulary. It names the three standards documents a family may be pointed at, the 2019 dual credit standards, the 2019 sponsored dual credit standards, and the 2016 assessment based learning credit standards, and it publishes the statewide Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate credit policy that Oregon public universities apply.

Accelerated learning peer review

Higher Education Coordinating Commission, peer review and approval status .

The list showing which colleges are approved and when each is due for review. Most approved institutions run on a five or six year cycle, and the table records conditional approvals with an earlier follow-up date. Before committing a two-year plan to one college, it is worth seeing where that college sits in the cycle.

Expanded Options Program

Oregon Department of Education, Expanded Options .

The department’s short description of the campus route, aimed at students in grades 11 and 12 who have used up the course options at their own school. It restates the public funding that flows to the college to cover tuition, fees, textbooks, equipment and materials, and it points to chapter 340 for the rest. The named accelerated learning specialist on the page is the state contact when a district and a family disagree.

Who administers it

These are the offices that answer a question about Oregon 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.

• Oregon Department of Education, accelerated learning · Publishes the program directory and answers Expanded Options questions for districts and families.
• Higher Education Coordinating Commission, accelerated learning · Writes the dual credit standards and approves the colleges that may award the credit.
• Oregon Transfer Compass · Where the Core Transfer Maps and the Oregon Transfer Module are published.
• The resident school district · Takes the May 15 notice, decides duplicate courses, and grants the high school credit.

Frequently asked

Can the college charge a student in Expanded Options?

Not for the course itself. ORS 340.050 bars an eligible post-secondary institution that receives payment for a student from charging that student tuition, fees, or other required instructional costs, and a student who bought materials may seek reimbursement from the district.

What happens if the district calls a course a duplicate?

ORS 340.030 gives a route out. The district must tell the student within 20 business days, the student may appeal to the school board, and a denial can be appealed to the Superintendent of Public Instruction, who has 30 days before the course is treated as not a duplicate.

Does a high school have to offer college credit courses?

ORS 340.300 requires each district to provide accelerated college credit programs to students in grades 9 through 12, including in language arts, mathematics and science, or to ensure online access to them.

How long can a student stay in Expanded Options?

The equivalent of two academic years, under ORS 340.040, and only one academic year for a student who first enrolls in grade 12. A mid-year start is prorated, and a graduate cannot participate.

Who decides how much high school credit the course earns?

The district, and it has to say so first. ORS 340.040 requires the district to notify the student of the number and type of credits before the course begins, with a board-level appeal if the family disagrees.