To amend section 3333.07 and to enact section 3333.43 of the Revised Code to require the Chancellor of the Ohio Board of Regents to establish standards and protocols for approving career-technical planning districts to award associate degrees.

Section 1.  That section 3333.07 be amended and section 3333.43 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:

Sec. 3333.07.  (A) Colleges, universities, and other institutions of higher education which receive state assistance, but are not supported primarily by the state, shall submit to the chancellor of the Ohio board of regents such accounting of the expenditure of state funds at such time and in such form as the chancellor prescribes.

(B) No state institution of higher education shall establish a new branch or academic center without the approval of the chancellor.

(C) No state institution of higher education shall offer a new degree or establish a new degree program without the approval of the chancellor. No Except as provided in section 3333.43 of the Revised Code, no degree approval shall be given for a technical education program unless such program is offered by a state assisted university, a university branch, a technical college, or a community college.

(D) Any state college, university, or other state assisted institution of higher education not complying with a recommendation of the chancellor pursuant to division (F) or (G) of section 3333.04 of the Revised Code shall so notify the chancellor in writing within one hundred twenty days after receipt of the recommendation, stating the reasons why it cannot or should not comply.

(E) The officers, trustees, and employees of all institutions of higher education which are state supported or state assisted shall cooperate with the chancellor in supplying information regarding their institutions, and advising and assisting the chancellor on matters of higher education in this state in every way possible when so requested by the chancellor.

(F) Persons associated with the public school systems in this state, personnel of the state department of education, and members of the state board of education shall provide such data about high school students as are requested by the chancellor to aid in the development of state higher education plans.

Sec. 3333.43. (A) As used in this section, "career-technical planning district" means a school district or group of school districts designated by the department of education as being responsible for the planning for and provision of career-technical education services to students within the district or group.

(B) The chancellor of the Ohio board of regents shall establish standards and protocols by which the chancellor shall approve career-technical planning districts to award associate degrees to graduating high school students, and to adult learners, who successfully complete courses of study that are substantially similar to associate degree programs of community colleges, state community colleges, and technical colleges. The standards and protocols shall include:

(1) Specification of the types of associate degrees that career-technical planning districts may offer;

(2) Minimum requirements for courses awarding credit toward an associate degree;

(3) Qualifications that a career-technical planning district must meet, including accreditation requirements for each type of associate degree authorized.

(C) A career-technical planning district seeking approval to issue associate degrees shall apply to the chancellor for approval in the manner prescribed by the chancellor. Each district receiving approval shall file an annual report with the chancellor in the form and containing the information prescribed by the chancellor.

(D) The chancellor shall adopt a rule in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code establishing fees to pay the cost of reviewing an application from a career-technical planning district for approval to award associate degrees, which the district shall pay when it applies for approval, and establishing fees that a district shall pay for any further reviews the chancellor determines necessary after examining a district's annual report.

(E) The chancellor shall establish criteria, policies, and procedures that enable students to transfer courses completed through an associate degree program offered by a career-technical planning district to a state institution of higher education without unnecessary duplication or institutional barriers.

Section 2. That existing section 3333.07 of the Revised Code is hereby repealed.