State Legislation

This law, enacted in June 2015, requires the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to publicize information about PSE programs for students with IDD online and update it completely at least once every two years. The THECB must keep an online inventory of all such programs, and must also share those resources with the Texas Education Agency, which will use it to publish a guide on transition and employment.

This Tennessee act, signed in 2016, enables recipients of the STEP UP state scholarship to apply its funds to enrollment in two and four-year postsecondary programs for students with intellectual disability. This expands eligibility for the Tennessee STEP UP scholarship, for students with IDD who complete high school and pursue PSE at any college in the state with an approved comprehensive transition and postsecondary (CPT) programs.

This legislation, enacted in April 2016, directs Oklahoma institutes of higher education to work with all government agencies that provide services to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities to consider the development of comprehensive transition and postsecondary education (CTP) programs. Programs created from such partnerships must also include private sector businesses that can create practical learning opportunities for students. It also states that IHE transition programs must work with national disability groups to collect and analyze student outcome data.

This bill, introduced in 2016, but not passed, would have established new two-year pilot academic programs for students with intellectual disability. The programs would be located at four state universities and would admit at least ten new students every year. The programs would provide mentoring supports and internship/apprenticeship opportunities to students and will aim to promote independent living. The Board of Trustees of Minnesota State Colleges and Universities would design the program and report regularly to the legislature.

This bill, passed in 2016, states that the Massachusetts Executive Office of Education must develop and administer a discretionary grant program to fund partnerships between public higher education institutions and school committees that create inclusive concurrent enrollment program options for students with IDD aged 18-21. The Executive Office of Education was charged with producing a report on the programs in question by December 2017.

A Task Force was created by the Maryland General Assembly in July 2013, as a result of this bill.  

Among the Task Force recommendations:

A Maryland bill signed May 25, 2017. This bill established a new program to award competitive grants to institutions that create and implement inclusive pilot programs for students with IDD. Recipient institutions need to develop a program that promotes inclusion within all aspects of student life, and ensure that students have inclusive academic access, instruction, career development, campus engagement, self-determination, paid work experience, campus living, and social activities.

This bill, signed in 2016, authorizes an increase in the amount of Kentucky Educational Excellence Scholarships (KEES) for students with IDD who enroll in a CTP in Kentucky. These students will be eligible for a $500 KEES if they are enrolled in at least six credit hours in a term, or $250 if they are enrolled in less than six credit hours.

Enacted in 2015, this legislation created a committee which conducted a study into PSE and employment needs for individuals with IDD from September to November 2015. It recommended that the Georgia legislature create an Employment First Georgia Council under the Georgia VR Agency.

Signed into law by Florida’s governor on January 21, 2016, the Florida Postsecondary Comprehensive Transition Program Act (the Act) (FS 1004.6495) established the Florida Center for Students with Unique Abilities (FCSUA) at the University of Central Florida and charged the Center with managing the Florida Postsecondary Comprehensive Transition Program (FPCTP) application and approval process.