97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2011 and 2012
SB3803

 

Introduced 2/10/2012, by Sen. Kimberly A. Lightford

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
New Act

    Creates the College Completion Report Card Act. Provides that within 3 months after the effective date of this Act, the Illinois P-20 Council shall collaborate with the Board of Higher Education, the Illinois Community College Board, and a consortia of private colleges and universities to convene a committee headed by the chairperson of the Joint Educational Leadership Committee, whose purpose shall be to advise the Illinois P-20 Council on the development of a template for a college completion report card. Provides that after development, the Board of Higher Education and the Illinois Community College Board shall collaborate to collect data annually and publicly report college completion metrics, as well as report to and advise the Illinois P-20 Council on progress. Provides that the report card must be (i) clearly linked to performance funding metrics and the goals of the Public Agenda and (ii) simple to read and clearly indicative of minority and low-income student access, student progress, and progress towards increasing college completion. Provides that on or before September 30, 2014 and on or before September 30 of each year thereafter, the Board of Higher Education and the Illinois Community College Board shall prepare a State report card and completion report cards for each institution that enrolls one or more students who receive Monetary Award Program grants. Provides that the committee shall provide to the Illinois P-20 Council and the longitudinal data system recommendations for more detailed data report cards that shall be publicly available for use by college, university, and agency leaders to identify solutions to improving certificate or degree completion. Effective immediately.


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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY
STATE MANDATES ACT MAY REQUIRE REIMBURSEMENT

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

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1    AN ACT concerning education.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
5College Completion Report Card Act.
 
6    Section 5. College completion report card.
7    (a) Within 3 months after the effective date of this Act,
8the Illinois P-20 Council shall collaborate with the Board of
9Higher Education, the Illinois Community College Board, and a
10consortia of private colleges and universities to convene a
11committee headed by the chairperson of the Illinois P-20
12Council's Joint Educational Leadership Committee, whose
13purpose shall be to advise the P-20 Council on the development
14of a template for a college completion report card. The
15chairperson of the Joint Educational Leadership Committee
16shall be responsible for selecting members of the committee.
17The template for the report card shall be completed on or
18before January 1, 2014. After development, the Board of Higher
19Education and the Illinois Community College Board shall
20collaborate to collect data annually and publicly report
21college completion metrics, as well as report to and advise the
22Illinois P-20 Council on progress.
23    The report card must be (i) clearly linked to performance

 

 

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1funding metrics and the goals of the Public Agenda and (ii)
2simple to read and clearly indicative of minority and
3low-income student access, student progress, and progress
4towards increasing college completion. The report card
5template may include, but need not be limited to, the
6following:
7        (1) student and institutional demographics, including
8    gender, age, race, full or part-time status, average class
9    size, and number of students in each level of education;
10        (2) tuition and fees, as well as average cost after
11    financial aid and average educational loan burden;
12        (3) the results of each postsecondary educational
13    institution's performance funding metrics from the
14    previous year or equivalent metrics for private
15    educational institutions;
16        (4) leading indicators or momentum points, which,
17    based on 2 or more existing research studies, can be
18    reasonably considered predictors of student certificate or
19    degree completion, such as the following:
20            (A) term to term persistence;
21            (B) course pass rate;
22            (C) students who complete remedial coursework in
23        their first year of study;
24            (D) students who complete remedial coursework in
25        their second year of study;
26            (E) number of credit hours completed in their first

 

 

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1        and second years; and
2            (F) students who passed gatekeeper English or
3        mathematics courses by their year of study; and
4        (5) other measures of student success, which shall be
5    identified by the committee, such as licensure rates in
6    relevant programs and General Educational Development
7    passage rates.
8    The data shall be collected from the colleges and
9universities in such a way that allows the metrics to be
10disaggregated by age, gender, income, and race and ethnicity.
11    (b) On or before September 30, 2014 and on or before
12September 30 of each year thereafter, the Board of Higher
13Education and the Illinois Community College Board shall
14prepare a State report card and completion report cards for
15each institution that enrolls one or more students who receive
16Monetary Award Program grants under Section 35 of the Higher
17Education Student Assistance Act. On or before November 30 of
18each year, report cards must be made easily accessible from
19each institution's Internet website, if any, and updated
20versions must be made available via the Illinois Student
21Assistant Commission's Internet website. Updated community
22college report cards must be easily accessible through the
23Illinois Community College Board's and Board of Higher
24Education's Internet websites. Updated report cards for
25colleges and universities under the authority of the Board of
26Higher Education must be easily accessible through the Board of

 

 

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1Higher Education's Internet website. Updated report cards must
2be provided to all potential students when they apply.
3    (c) The committee shall provide to the Illinois P-20
4Council and the longitudinal data system recommendations for
5more detailed data report cards that shall be publicly
6available for use by college, university, and agency leaders to
7identify solutions to improving certificate or degree
8completion. These dashboards may include additional data to
9help institutions and policymakers develop effective policies
10to improve completion, such as, but not limited to, average
11time to obtain a degree, average number of developmental
12courses taken, completion rates of students by courses taken,
13majors, certificates, and degrees. Where possible and useful,
14data shall also be disaggregated by race, ethnicity, and
15income. It shall be the responsibility of the longitudinal data
16system to identify which data is immediately available and make
17recommendations for future collection of the most useful data
18that is not currently available. The Board of Higher Education
19and the Illinois Community College Board may require
20institutions to implement additional data collection, if
21necessary and useful and by the most economic means, to better
22understand barriers to certificate or degree completion. The
23Board of Higher Education and the Illinois Community College
24Board shall be responsible for developing detailed report cards
25and making them publicly available and easily accessible
26through the Board of Higher Education's and the Illinois

 

 

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1Community College Board's Internet websites.
 
2    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
3becoming law.