House passes bill to make college credits transferable across state institutions

The Utah House passed House Bill 320 on a 69–0 recorded vote after sponsors said the measure will make credits earned at any state higher-education institution transferable across the system.

Sponsor Representative Bradley Johnson told colleagues that the bill "makes it so that the the credit that's earned anywhere in the system would be, good anywhere in our higher education system," and that institutions would maintain a common numbering system and produce a report to confirm compliance.

Members who spoke in favor said the bill should reduce unnecessary course repeats and help students graduate sooner. Representative Pace said that if the measure "works the way we want it to work ... we hopefully will be saving some money in this state" by avoiding duplicate coursework.

There were no recorded 'no' votes. The House clerk announced the bill "having received 69 yes votes and 0 no votes," and the bill was referred to the Senate for further consideration.

The measure was introduced on the House floor as part of the third-reading calendar and drew support from higher-education stakeholders during committee consideration, according to the sponsor.

Next steps: the bill moves to the Utah Senate for consideration; no Senate action is recorded in this transcript.