Bill > S846

This bill aims to create higher education opportunities for students with severe intellectual disabilities, severe autism spectrum disorders, or other severe developmental disabilities. The key provisions of the bill include: 1. Expanding the mission of public institutions of higher education to provide inclusive educational opportunities for individuals with severe intellectual, autism, or other developmental disabilities. 2. Allowing these students to participate in undergraduate academic courses, internships, work-based training, and extracurricular activities without requiring them to meet standard college admission criteria like standardized tests, high school diplomas, or minimum grade requirements. 3. Requiring public institutions of higher education to provide individual supports and services to facilitate the inclusion of these students in academic and non-academic campus life. 4. Establishing a discretionary grant program to fund partnerships between school committees and public colleges/universities to offer inclusive concurrent enrollment initiatives for eligible students aged 18-21. 5. Requiring inter-agency coordination to maximize federal funding and support the inclusion of students with severe disabilities in higher education, even those over age 22. 6. Directing the Department of Higher Education and Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to issue implementation guidelines for the inclusive concurrent enrollment program by March 2022.

Education

https://malegislature.gov/Bills/192/S846