Dear Editor:
Students’ needs ought to have been front and center in the March 19th Star Tribune editorial regarding Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU). School district superintendents asked me to help students and their families get college credits they earned in high school recognized consistently and count towards their degree. I brought forth HF1306 to help ensure this happens.
My bill proposal helps make the transfer process more predictable and transparent. It helps clear a pathway to successfully complete a degree. HF1306 puts into law MnSCU’s current procedure 3.37.1. I add language to make it clear that students who take college courses while in high school through Post-Secondary Enrollment Options (PSEO), college courses in their high school classrooms (Concurrent Enrollment), and International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma classes, will have their college courses transfer properly. We need to support students taking rigorous college courses in high school and ensure they get their classes transferred properly.
MnSCU, who provides wonderful educational opportunities for Minnesotans, did not testify against my bill. They reviewed the proposed language and conveyed to me it is their current procedure. However, it recently came to their attention that a few of their colleges and universities “may not be transcripting PSEO classes correctly.” They plan to ensure that they do so properly in the future to avoid incorrect transfers of these courses.
It has been pointed out to me that schools have had several years of discussion with different MnSCU schools and have seen inconsistencies as they determine the credit transfers for PSEO, Concurrent Enrollment courses, and IB Diploma classes. The school districts I represent are doing amazing work in making rigorous college courses available to students while in high school, including those who might not have been making plans to go to college. Research shows these courses increase students’ likelihood of completing a college or technical degree. Minnesota ought to be supporting its students as they pursue their degrees, not putting up unnecessary roadblocks.
Sincerely,
Rep. Connie Bernardy
Fridley, New Brighton, and Spring Lake Park
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