(a) For purposes of this section:
(1) “Early college high school” means a school in which persons who are underrepresented in higher education, including, but not limited to, low-income youth, first-generation college students, English language learners and minority students, may simultaneously earn, tuition free, a high school diploma and an associate degree or up to two years of credit toward a bachelor's degree;
(2) “Middle college program” means a collaboration between a school district's high schools and a regional-community technical college or a four-year college or university where a student may (A) take core high school courses or courses for which college or university-level credit may be given, and (B) attribute all such credits earned toward a program of higher learning at an institution of higher education in which such student enrolls upon graduation from the middle college program; and
(3) “Connecticut Early College Opportunity program” or “CT-ECO” means a collaboration between a school district's high schools, a local community college and a company or business entity where a student may earn an industry-recognized, two-year postsecondary degree in addition to a high school diploma.
(b) The Connecticut Employment and Training Commission shall develop, in collaboration with the Connecticut state colleges and universities, Department of Education, and regional work force development boards established pursuant to section 31-3j, a state-wide plan for implementing, expanding or improving upon career certificate programs established under section 10-20a, middle college programs, early college high school programs and Connecticut Early College Opportunity programs to provide education, training and placement in jobs available in the manufacturing, health care, construction, green, science, technology, computer science, engineering and mathematics industries and other emerging sectors of the state's economy. Such plan shall include a proposal to fund such programs.
(P.A. 14-217, S. 197; P.A. 16-15, S. 2; P.A. 17-207, S. 5; P.A. 18-126, S. 7; P.A. 19-128, S. 8.)
History: P.A. 14-217 effective July 1, 2014; P.A. 16-15 amended Subsec. (a)(2) by replacing “bachelor degree” with “bachelor's degree”, effective May 6, 2016; P.A. 17-207 amended Subsec. (a) to delete former Subdiv. (1) re “contextualized learning”, redesignate existing Subdivs. (2) and (3) as new Subdivs. (1) and (2), add new Subdiv. (3) re “Connecticut Early College Opportunity program”, amended Subsec. (b) to add reference to Connecticut state colleges and universities and Department of Education, delete reference to contextualized learning programs, add reference to Connecticut Early College Opportunity programs, and add “, science, technology, engineering and mathematics”, amended Subsec. (c) to designate existing provisions re Connecticut Employment and Training Commission report as Subdiv. (1) and amend same to replace “January 1, 2015” with “January 1, 2018”, designate existing provisions re annual report by commission as Subdiv. (2) and amend same to replace “September 1, 2015” with “September 1, 2018”, and add “included in the plan developed under subsection (b) of this section”, and made technical changes, effective July 11, 2017; P.A. 18-126 deleted Subsec. (c) re report on plan and annual report on status of programs included in plan; P.A. 19-128 amended Subsec. (b) by adding “computer science,”, effective July 1, 2019.