KLS Keeping Law Simple Legislation in plain English

Straight-ahead summaries built from the official bill text. We keep the source links front and center and leave the decision up to you.

Back to Louisiana

HB649 • 2026

HIGHER EDUCATION: Requires the establishment and administration of a statewide application process for dual enrollment programs

HIGHER EDUCATION: Requires the establishment and administration of a statewide application process for dual enrollment programs

Education
Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
Ken Brass
Last action
2026-05-25
Official status
Signed by the Speaker
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The bill text does not provide specific details on how grants will be managed, only that rules and regulations must be established.

Higher Education Act for Dual Enrollment Programs

This act requires the creation and management of a single application process statewide for high school students to enroll in dual enrollment programs at Louisiana's public colleges and universities.

What This Bill Does

  • Creates a uniform, statewide application process for all high school students who want to participate in dual enrollment programs.
  • Requires each public postsecondary education institution to join the new application process unless they give written notice of not joining.
  • Establishes rules for managing grants related to dual enrollment programs.

Who It Names or Affects

  • High school students in Louisiana who want to participate in dual enrollment programs.
  • Public postsecondary education institutions and management boards in Louisiana.

Terms To Know

Dual Enrollment
A program that allows high school students to take college courses for credit while still in high school.
Board of Regents
The governing body responsible for overseeing public higher education institutions in Louisiana.

Limits and Unknowns

  • Does not specify what happens if a postsecondary institution decides not to participate.
  • Effective date is not provided, but implementation must begin by the start of the 2027-2028 school year.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

Filed

Plain English: The amendment requires each public postsecondary management board to set a standard uniform tuition rate for dual enrollment courses.

  • Each public postsecondary management board must adopt a standard uniform tuition rate for all dual enrollment courses, in consultation with the Board of Regents.
  • The exact details on how the standard uniform tuition rate will be determined and enforced are not provided in the amendment text.
Filed

Plain English: The amendment to HB649 requires the state to establish and manage a single application process for dual enrollment programs across all higher education institutions.

  • Establishes a statewide application process for students who want to take college courses while still in high school.
  • The official amendment text does not provide specific details on how the application process will be implemented or managed, which limits our ability to explain further concrete changes.
Adopted

Plain English: The amendment adds a new requirement that each public postsecondary education management board must set a standard uniform tuition rate for dual enrollment courses in consultation with the Board of Regents.

  • Adds a new section requiring public postsecondary education management boards to establish a consistent tuition rate for all dual enrollment courses after consulting with the Board of Regents.
  • The amendment does not specify how the standard uniform tuition rate will be determined or enforced.
  • It is unclear what specific impact this new requirement will have on existing dual enrollment programs and their funding.
Adopted

Plain English: The amendment requires each public postsecondary management board to set a standard uniform tuition rate for dual enrollment programs in consultation with the Board of Regents.

  • Adds a new section that mandates public postsecondary management boards to establish a consistent tuition rate for all dual enrollment courses after consulting with the Board of Regents.
  • The amendment does not specify how the standard uniform tuition rate will be determined or enforced.
  • It is unclear what specific criteria or guidelines, if any, the management boards must follow when setting the tuition rates.
Draft

Plain English: The amendment requires each public postsecondary management board to set a standard uniform tuition rate for dual enrollment programs in consultation with the Board of Regents.

  • Adds a new section that mandates public postsecondary management boards to establish a consistent tuition rate for all dual enrollment courses after consulting with the Board of Regents.
  • The amendment does not specify how the standard uniform tuition rate will be determined or enforced.
  • It is unclear what specific criteria or guidelines, if any, the management boards must follow when setting the tuition rates.

Bill History

  1. 2026-05-25 H

    Enrolled and signed by the Speaker of the House.

  2. 2026-05-22 H

    Sent to the Governor for executive approval.

  3. 2026-05-21 S

    Signed by the President of the Senate.

  4. 2026-05-20 H

    Read by title, roll called, yeas 94, nays 0, Senate amendments concurred in.

  5. 2026-05-19 H

    Scheduled for concurrence on 05/20/2026.

  6. 2026-05-13 H

    Received from the Senate with amendments.

  7. 2026-05-13 S

    Rules suspended. Senate floor amendments read and adopted. Read by title, passed by a vote of 36 yeas and 0 nays, and ordered returned to the House. Motion to reconsider tabled.

  8. 2026-05-05 S

    Reported without Legislative Bureau amendments. Read by title and passed to third reading and final passage.

  9. 2026-05-04 S

    Committee amendments read and adopted. Read by title and referred to the Legislative Bureau.

  10. 2026-04-29 S

    Rules suspended. Reported with amendments.

  11. 2026-03-30 S

    Read second time by title and referred to the Committee on Education.

  12. 2026-03-25 S

    Received in the Senate. Read first time by title and placed on the Calendar for a second reading.

  13. 2026-03-25 H

    Read third time by title, roll called on final passage, yeas 101, nays 0. Finally passed, title adopted, ordered to the Senate.

  14. 2026-03-23 H

    Scheduled for floor debate on 03/25/2026.

  15. 2026-03-23 H

    Read by title, ordered engrossed, passed to 3rd reading.

  16. 2026-03-18 H

    Reported favorably (11-0).

  17. 2026-03-09 H

    Read by title, under the rules, referred to the Committee on Education.

  18. 2026-02-27 H

    First appeared in the Interim Calendar on 2/27/2026.

  19. 2026-02-27 H

    Under the rules, provisionally referred to the Committee on Education.

  20. 2026-02-27 H

    Prefiled.

Official Summary Text

HIGHER EDUCATION: Requires the establishment and administration of a statewide application process for dual enrollment programs

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
ENROLLED
2026 Regular Session
HOUSE BILL NO. 649
BY REPRESENTATIVE BRASS
1 AN ACT
2 To amend and reenact R.S. 17:2943, relative to dual enrollment; to provide for the
3 responsibilities of the Board of Regents, public postsecondary education institutions,
4 and public postsecondary education management boards; to require a uniform,
5 statewide application process for all high school students; and to provide for related
6 matters.
7 Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
8 Section 1. R.S. 17:2943 is hereby amended and reenacted to read as follows:
9 §2943. Rules and regulations
10 A. The Board of Regents, in consultation with the State Board of Elementary
11 and Secondary Education, shall adopt rules and regulations for the implementation
12 of this Chapter.
13 B.(1) The Board of Regents, in coordination with Louisiana public
14 postsecondary education institutions, shall establish and administer a uniform,
15 statewide application process for high school students to apply to participate in dual
16 enrollment programs.
17 (2) Each public postsecondary education institution shall participate in the
18 process established in Paragraph (1) of this Subsection, unless an institution provides
19 written notice of non-participation to its management board.
20 (3) Each public postsecondary education management board, in coordination
21 with the Board of Regents, shall coordinate and adopt institutional implementation
Page 1 of 2
CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored
are additions.
HB NO. 649 ENROLLED
1 plans to improve student access, efficiency, and cost savings to include, at a
2 minimum, rules for notice of non-participation and re-entry into participation.
3 (4) Each public postsecondary education management board, in consultation
4 with the Board of Regents, shall adopt a standard uniform dual enrollment tuition rate
5 for all dual enrollment courses.
6 C. The Board of Regents, in consultation with the State Board of Elementary
7 and Secondary Education, shall manage the grants pursuant to R.S. 17:2944,
8 including but not limited to application requirements, evaluation criteria, evaluation
9 criteria and selection.
10 C. D. Nothing in this Chapter is intended to prohibit a city, parish, and other
11 local public school board from developing and continuing an interinstitutional
12 articulation and transfer agreement with a public postsecondary education institution
13 relative to dual enrollment.
14 Section 2. The provisions of R.S. 17:2943 as amended and reenacted by Section 1
15 of this Act shall be implemented no later than the beginning of the 2027-2028 school year.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF LOUISIANA
APPROVED:
Page 2 of 2
CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored
are additions.