AN ACT to expand academic transition pathways for SOPHOMORE high school students.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 115D‑20(4)a. reads as rewritten:

a.        Subject to the approval of the State Board of Community Colleges, local community colleges may collaborate with public school units and nonpublic schools to offer courses through the following programs:

1.         Repealed by Session Laws 2022‑71, s. 3.2, effective July 8, 2022.

2.         Academic transition pathways for qualified junior and sophomore, junior, and senior high school students that lead to a career technical education certificate, diploma, or State or industry‑recognized credential and academic transition pathways for qualified freshmen and sophomore high school students that lead to a career technical education certificate or diploma in (i) industrial and engineering technologies, (ii) agriculture and natural resources, (iii) transportation technology, (iv) construction, or (v) business technologies.

3.         College transfer pathways requiring the successful completion of 30 semester credit hours of transfer courses, including English and mathematics, for the following students:

I.          Qualified junior and senior high school students.

II.        Qualified freshman and sophomore high school students, if all of the following requirements are met:

A.        The student is determined to be academically gifted, have a demonstrated readiness for the course material, and have the maturity to justify admission to the community college by (i) the community college president, (ii) the student's high school principal or equivalent administrator, and (iii) the academically gifted coordinator, if one is employed by the high school or local school administrative unit.

B.        The student participates in academic advising focused on the implications of being admitted to college early with representatives from the high school and the community college.

C.        The student's parent or guardian has given consent for the student to participate.

SECTION 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law and applies beginning with the 2025‑2026 school year.