Illinois Compiled Statutes
Chapter 110 - HIGHER EDUCATION
110 ILCS 27/ - Dual Credit Quality Act.

(110 ILCS 27/1)
Sec. 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Dual Credit Quality Act.

(Source: P.A. 96-194, eff. 1-1-10.)
 
(110 ILCS 27/5)
Sec. 5. Definitions.
In this Act:
"Dual credit course" means a college course taken by a high school student for credit at both the college and high school level.
"Institution" means an "institution of higher learning" as defined in the Higher Education Student Assistance Act.


(Source: P.A. 96-194, eff. 1-1-10.)
 
(110 ILCS 27/10)
Sec. 10. Purpose. The purpose of this Act is to accomplish all of the following:
(Source: P.A. 96-194, eff. 1-1-10.)
 
(110 ILCS 27/15)
Sec. 15. Student academic standing.
Institutions may adopt policies to protect the academic standing of students who are not successful in dual credit courses, including, but not limited to, options for (i) late withdrawal from a course, or (ii) taking the course on a pass-fail basis, or both. All institutional policies relating to the academic standing of students enrolled in dual credit courses or the transfer of credit for dual credit courses must be made publicly available by the institution and provided to each student enrolled in dual credit courses offered by that institution.


(Source: P.A. 100-1049, eff. 1-1-19.)
 
(110 ILCS 27/16)
Sec. 16. High school and community college partnership agreements; dual credit. A community college district shall, upon the request of a school district within the jurisdiction of the community college district, enter into a partnership agreement with the school district to offer dual credit coursework.
A school district may offer any course identified in the Illinois Articulation Initiative General Education Core Curriculum package under the Illinois Articulation Initiative Act as a dual credit course on the campus of a high school of the school district and may use a high school instructor who has met the academic credential requirements under this Act to teach the dual credit course.
The partnership agreement shall include all of the following:
If, within 180 calendar days of the school district's initial request to enter into a partnership agreement with the community college district, the school district and the community college district do not reach agreement on the partnership agreement, then the school district and community college district shall jointly implement the provisions of the Model Partnership Agreement established under Section 19 of this Act for which local agreement could not be reached. A community college district may combine its negotiations with multiple school districts to establish one multi-district partnership agreement or may negotiate individual partnership agreements at its discretion.

(Source: P.A. 102-516, eff. 8-20-21; 102-1077, eff. 1-1-23.)
 
(110 ILCS 27/16.5)
Sec. 16.5. High school and community college partnership agreements; student enrollment eligibility.
(a) A partnership agreement under Section 16 that is entered into, amended, renewed, or extended after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly shall allow a high school student who does not otherwise meet the community college district's academic eligibility requirements to enroll in a dual credit course taught at the high school, but only for high school credit. Instructors, in coordination with their higher learning partner, may differentiate instruction by credit section.
(b) Nothing in this Section shall be construed to allow the award of dual credit to a student who does not meet the requirements of the partnership agreement.
(c) High schools shall establish procedures, prior to the first day of class, to notify all individual high school students enrolled in a mixed enrollment dual credit course that includes students who have and have not met the criteria for dual credit coursework of whether or not they are eligible to earn college credit for the course.

(Source: P.A. 102-1077, eff. 1-1-23.)
 
(110 ILCS 27/17)
Sec. 17. Out-of-state dual credit contracts. On or after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 100th General Assembly, a school district may not enter into a new contract with an out-of-state institution to provide a dual credit course without first offering the community college district in the district in which the school district is located the opportunity to provide the course. Prior to entering into a contract with an out-of-state institution, the school district shall notify the Board of Higher Education of its intent to enter into an agreement with an out-of-state institution. The Board of Higher Education shall have 30 days to provide the school district with a list of in-state institutions that can provide the school district an equivalent dual credit opportunity. In deciding which dual credit courses to offer, a school district reserves the right to evaluate any dual credit course offered by any institution for quality, rigor, and alignment with the school district's students' needs.
Agreements to provide dual credit courses between a school district and an out-of-state institution in existence on the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 100th General Assembly shall remain in effect and shall not be impacted by this Section.

(Source: P.A. 100-1049, eff. 1-1-19.)
 
(110 ILCS 27/18)
Sec. 18. Recognition of dual credit coursework completion. Any General Education Core Curriculum dual credit coursework completed by a high school student under this Act must be recognized as credit-bearing college-level coursework meeting General Education Core Curriculum requirements, consistent with the Illinois Articulation Initiative Act, if the course or courses have an existing Illinois Articulation Initiative code at the community college. Dual credit coursework completed by a high school student under this Act is transferrable to all public institutions in this State on the same basis as coursework completed by a public community college student who has previously earned a high school diploma in the manner set forth under the Illinois Articulation Initiative Act.

(Source: P.A. 100-1049, eff. 1-1-19.)
 
(110 ILCS 27/19)
Sec. 19. Model Partnership Agreement and Dual Credit Committee. A Model Partnership Agreement shall be developed through a Dual Credit Committee involving collaboration between the Illinois Community College Board and the State Board of Education by June 30, 2019. The Committee shall consist of 5 members appointed by the State Superintendent of Education and 5 members appointed by the Executive Director of the Illinois Community College Board. The Model Partnership Agreement shall address all of the matters set forth in Section 16 of this Act.

(Source: P.A. 100-1049, eff. 1-1-19.)
 
(110 ILCS 27/20)
Sec. 20. Standards. All institutions offering dual credit courses shall meet the following standards:
 
(110 ILCS 27/25)
Sec. 25. Oversight, review, and reporting.
(a) The Illinois Community College Board shall be responsible for oversight and review of dual credit programs offered jointly by public community colleges and high schools. The Illinois Community College Board shall implement a review process and criteria for evaluating dual credit program quality based upon the standards enumerated in Section 20 of this Act.
(b) The Board of Higher Education shall be responsible for oversight and review of dual credit programs offered jointly by high schools and institutions, except for public community colleges as provided in subsection (a) of this Section. The Board of Higher Education shall develop and implement a review process based on the standards enumerated in Section 20 of this Act.
(c) Each institution shall report annually to the appropriate agency, the Illinois Community College Board or the Board of Higher Education. The reports shall include, but not be limited to, the following data:
(Source: P.A. 96-194, eff. 1-1-10.)
 
(110 ILCS 27/30)
Sec. 30. Accountability.
(a) The State Board of Education, the Illinois Community College Board, and the Board of Higher Education shall include information regarding student participation and performance in dual credit programs and their success in postsecondary education in a statewide longitudinal data system.
(b) The data system shall track dual credit students and courses on student records.
(c) Analysis of data relating to student success in dual credit courses as well as performance in postsecondary education must be incorporated into the evaluation of dual credit programs in both high school and college.



(Source: P.A. 96-194, eff. 1-1-10.)
 
(110 ILCS 27/35)
Sec. 35. Dual Credit Grant. Subject to appropriation, the Illinois Community College Board shall award funds to community college districts to expand their service and lower costs for high school students desiring to take college-level classes prior to receiving their high school diploma to accelerate their college coursework.

(Source: P.A. 100-1049, eff. 1-1-19.)
 
(110 ILCS 27/40)
Sec. 40. Students with disabilities. Within one year after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly, each community college district in this State, in partnership with the appropriate high schools, shall modify its dual credit plan to ensure access to dual credit courses by students with disabilities consistent with Section 16 of this Act. The partnership agreement shall address how a high school and community college district will ensure the incorporation of an individualized education program or supplementary aids and accommodations pursuant to a Section 504 plan under the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973 for students with disabilities who enroll in dual credit courses.

(Source: P.A. 102-516, eff. 8-20-21.)

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