AOE seeks statutory fixes aligning adult diploma program with federal adult‑education rules

The Agency of Education asked the House Education Committee on Feb. 26 to amend state statutes so the state-administered Adult Diploma Program aligns with federal adult‑education grant requirements and to remove contradictory performance‑based funding language.

AOE staff explained that the adult diploma program replaced the previous high-school completion program and is administered at the agency level; as a result, federal adult‑education grant rules — which prohibit serving students who are concurrently enrolled in certain K–12 or postsecondary programs — apply to the program. Lindsay Hedges said the draft removes language tying Adult Diploma Program funding to student outcomes because, she said, “Adult ed funding is not contingent on student outcomes. The AOE maintains oversight of the providers.”

Hedges also flagged a statutory inconsistency between the dual‑enrollment statute and the adult‑diploma statute: the draft proposes to remove adults enrolled in the adult diploma program from the set of students eligible for dual enrollment because federal grant rules make those students ineligible. The committee asked for no further immediate changes and Hedges said AOE would return with more detailed testimony if members wanted a deeper review.

Ending: The committee agreed to leave the provisions in draft for further review; no formal vote was recorded. AOE said it is working to align state statute with federal grant rules to avoid administrative confusion and to ensure that provider oversight remains with the agency rather than funding being tied to individual student outcomes.