Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signs the Arkansas ACCESS Act at the Arkansas Economic Development Foundation Luncheon on Tuesday, March 18, 2025. | Randall Lee for the Arkansas governor’s office
By ANTOINETTE GRAJEDA | Arkansas Advocate
Arkansas ACCESS is a higher education overhaul bill signed into law by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders last week. The legislation, which was filed as two identical 123-page bills in the House and Senate, is an acronym for acceleration, common sense, cost eligibility, scholarships and standardization.
Here are some highlights of the major parts of the legislation:
Accelerated Learning
- Expands accelerated high school coursework beyond Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) programs to include Cambridge Advanced International Certificate of Education courses, concurrent credit courses or similar programs approved by the state education department.
- Allows accelerated courses to receive weighted credit.
- Repeals efforts to reduce the participation gaps and performance gaps in AP classes between African American, Hispanic and Caucasian students.
- Beginning in 2025-2026, all public school districts and charter schools shall offer at least four accelerated learning courses that cover math, English, science and social studies.
- Beginning in 2025-2026, the tuition rate for a concurrent credit course offered by public schools shall be between 0.5% and 2.5% of the per-pupil amount and will not exceed the standard tuition rate and fee structure of the higher education institution providing the course.
- Students and their parents will not be responsible for tuition, fees or materials for participation in a concurrent credit course.
School Ratings
- Amends the current K-12 school rating system and directs the education department to develop a new formula for determining a letter grade ranking for public school districts and education service cooperatives.
- Strikes language that previously called for the rating system to consider English-learner progress and one of several other indicators, including closing the achievement gap, equity in resource allocation or preschool access.
Purple Star School Districts and Campuses
- Permits a Purple Star designation for public schools and state-supported institutions of higher education that show “significant commitment” to serving students and families connected to the U.S. Armed Forces.
College Admissions
- Establishes the Arkansas Direct Admissions Program beginning with the graduating class of 2026-2027. The program will include a common online application portal and establish provisional admissions criteria.
- Requires state-sponsored schools to accept the Classic Learning Test (CLT) to the same extent they do the ACT and SAT tests for admissions and state-funded financial assistance programs.
Social Advocacy
- Prohibits public school districts from granting excused absences for political protests.
- Allows excused absences for public school students who, with parental consent, engage in social or public policy advocacy, or attempts to influence legislation or other governmental policymaking.
- Requires school districts to submit an annual report on the absences to the state education department.
- Prohibits state-supported institutions of higher education from granting excused absences for political protest, social or public policy advocacy, or attempts to influence governmental policymaking.
- Prohibits state-supported institutions of higher education from authorizing student walkouts for political protest, social or public policy advocacy, or attempts to influence governmental policymaking.
- Requires students who damage a state-supported institution of higher education while engaging in a political protest or public policy advocacy to be liable for the damages. Students found liable are ineligible to receive their degree or transfer credits to another Arkansas school until they pay for the damages.
Discrimination and Indoctrination
- Prohibits employees at a state-supported institution of higher education from compelling someone “to personally affirm, adopt, or adhere to ideas or beliefs” that violate sections of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but does allow for the discussion of history and concepts related to these topics.
- Prohibits conditioning enrollment or attendance based on race, ethnicity, sex, color or national origin.
- Prohibits a state-supported institution of higher education from collecting and reporting information related to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) for institutional accreditation purposes.
- Prohibits complying with institutional accreditation requirements related to DEI, including a diversity statement.
- Permits restricting state funding to institutions that don’t comply with the bill’s “Rejecting Discrimination and Indoctrination in Postsecondary Education” subchapter.
- Prohibits institutions from expending state funds and to reject federal funds whose receipt requires them to violate this subchapter.
- Prohibits institutions from requiring current or prospective employees or students to submit a diversity statement.
- Does not prohibit institutions from directing recruitment, advertising or promotion efforts to a specific population of prospective or existing students.
Higher Ed Funding
- Permits the Arkansas Division of Higher Education (ADHE) to promulgate rules to implement a productivity-based funding model for two-year and four-year state-supported institutions.
- Incorporates a return-on-investment metric into the funding model.
- Requires ADHE to consult with the Governor’s Workforce Cabinet during the development of the funding formula for noncredit programs.
Faculty Performance Review
- Permits the review process to result in the removal of tenure status or remedial training, and allows a tenured faculty member to appeal the decision.
- Permits immediate review of faculty members, including those with tenure, at any time if the institution determines they have “exhibited professional incompetence,” been convicted of a crime affecting their fitness to do their job, or have “engaged in unprofessional conduct,” among other things.
- Requires review framework to be reported to ADHE by Dec. 1, 2025, and implemented by Jan. 1, 2026. Tenure-related reports are due by Aug. 1 annually.
Scholarships
- Establishes an order for which institutions of higher education award financial aid, with federal aid being applied before state aid, except as otherwise provided by federal law.
- Increases the first year award for the Arkansas Academic Challenge Scholarship Program from $1,000 to $2,000.
- Creates the Arkansas Heroes Scholarship Act for children or spouses of “heroes,” which include first responders, veterans, teachers and certain state employees who suffered a fatal injury or become permanently disabled as result of a duty that occurred within the scope of their employment. Scholarship benefits may not accrue if the wound or death was self-inflicted.
- Creates the Governor’s Higher Education Transition Scholarship Program for students with disabilities. The program will offer a maximum award of $2,500 per qualifying semester, and recipients must maintain eligibility for up to eight continuous semesters or until credentialing is obtained.
- Renames the Arkansas Concurrent Challenge Scholarship Program to the ACCESS to Acceleration Scholarship Program, which supports the cost of concurrent credit courses under certain circumstances. Students may receive a maximum of $2,000 annually.
- Amends the Arkansas Governor’s Scholars Program to direct recipients to be chosen based on students who graduate with a diploma of distinction or earn an associate degree upon completing the summer term immediately following high school graduation.
- Allocates up to $5 million to the Arkansas Workforce Challenge Scholarship and increases the maximum annual award from $800 to $3,000.
- Classifies members of the U.S. military stationed in Arkansas and their dependents as in-state residents for state-funded scholarship purposes.
- Classifies other students as in-state residents if they have or will graduate from an Arkansas public school, private school or homeschool within nine months of enrolling in a state-supported institution of higher education; or established legal residency by meeting the requirements of rules promulgated by ADHE, and have been physically present in Arkansas for at least six continuous months with the intent to remain in the state.
Committee Membership
- Removes some organizations previously designated in statute as required appointees to various committees and councils. Legislative sponsors said their bills eliminate “without bias” entities that were not statutorily created, but these groups could still participate because the legislation allows for “relevant stakeholders.”
- Reduces the size of some of these entities, including the Arkansas Higher Education Coordinating Board, which will shrink from 12 governor-appointed members to seven beginning on May 1.
Course Credit
- Develops a statewide common course number system, with education officials to begin recommending additions and alterations beginning in the 2026-2027 school year.
- Provides for a reverse transfer agreement for students seeking an associate degree who transfer to a four-year state-supported institution of higher education before earning an associate degree.