Bill > HB1149

This bill creates the Educational Credit for Firefighting Experience Act, which requires all Illinois higher education institutions (including state universities, community colleges, and other state-funded institutions) to develop policies for awarding academic credit to current and former firefighters for their professional training and experience before June 1, 2027. The bill defines a firefighter as either a career or volunteer firefighter and mandates that institutions create procedures to document and verify firefighting training courses or programs that can be recognized for academic credit. Specifically, institutions must develop a process for receiving documentation, maintain a list of qualifying firefighting training courses, and provide their credit policy to applicants who have listed firefighting service on their admission applications. These institutions must submit their academic credit policies to the Board of Higher Education and the Illinois Community College Board by March 31, 2027, and annually thereafter, with the policies to be incorporated into the institutions' existing credit for prior learning policies. The overall goal is to recognize and validate the professional training and experience of firefighters by allowing them to potentially earn college credits based on their specialized training and service.

Education

https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocNum=1149&GAID=18&DocTypeID=HB&SessionID=114&GA=104