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POLICY STATEMENT

Post-secondary transition programs are educational programs that combine secondary and post-secondary courses, and that lead to Grade 12 graduation as well as help students make smooth transitions to further education or training. The Ministry of Education recognizes post-secondary courses for funding purposes if they are part of students' planned programs of study leading to graduation.

RATIONALE

Secondary schools are not always able to offer the full range of courses or programs that help prepare students for specific occupations. For this reason, the Ministry of Education encourages school districts to improve transition success for students by collaborating with post-secondary institutions and industry associations to offer transition programs that lead to trades certification or post-secondary credentials.

LEGISLATION/ REGULATIONS

The School Act, section 75:
"A board must make available an educational program to all persons of school age who enroll in a school in the district."

"A board may recognize as part of a student's educational program an educational activity that is not provided by the board."

See Ministerial Order 302/04, the Graduation Program Order

POLICY

For students enrolled in programs that include courses delivered by post-secondary partners, the following criteria must be met in order for the post-secondary courses to be eligible as courses funded by the Ministry:

• The post-secondary courses are reported for Graduation Program credit to the Ministry transcript system.The post-secondary courses lead to a post-secondary credential (and appear on a post-secondary transcript) from a post-secondary institution, which is a member of the British Columbia Transfer System or offered in French through the auspices of Educacentre.The post-secondary courses are part of a school district program that is an education option for students.The school district pays any tuition costs for the post-secondary courses reported for funding.Students begin taking the post-secondary courses that are part of their transition program during their Grade 11 or Grade 12 year.
• Students in post-secondary transition programs annually update and sign a planned program of courses. This program plan lists their transition program courses, including when and where they will be taking their post-secondary courses.

For school-aged students who have not yet graduated, post-secondary courses will be funded on the same basis as school district delivered courses.

For school-aged graduates who began taking post-secondary transition program courses during Grades 11 or 12, post-secondary courses will be funded on a per-course basis where one 4-credit course generates 0.125 FTE funding.

PROCEDURES

1. School districts establish transition programs with post-secondary partners.For students in post-secondary transition programs, schools prepare a document listing all courses that are part of students' post-secondary transition programs, and students sign the document.School districts include the documented post-secondary courses for funding as part of the 1701 data collection process.Post-secondary courses that are part of post-secondary transition programs are reported for transcript purposes using the post-secondary institution course codes assigned by the Ministry.
2. Schools keep a copy of the post-secondary transcript on file, showing completion of post-secondary courses.