---
title: HB 294. Quality Basic Education Act; require State Board of Education to review and update policies, guidelines, and processes for awarding units of high school credit to students based on a demonstration of subject area competency
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/hb294
cite_as: HB 294, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb294
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb294.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb294/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/69964
date: 2025-02-10
status: introduced
corpus_version: bills-2026-09-13
license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
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index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md
omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 129
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb294.md?full=1
bill_number: HB 294
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: House
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2025-02-05
last_action: House Second Readers
sponsors:
  - Tanya Miller
  - Lydia Glaize
  - Doreen Carter
  - Mekyah McQueen
  - Bryce Berry
  - Inga Willis
text_version: Introduced
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB294/2025
upstream_id: 1958354
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
  - high school credit
  - Quality Basic Education Act
  - State Board of Education
  - international baccalaureate
  - education policy
---

# HB 294. Quality Basic Education Act; require State Board of Education to review and update policies, guidelines, and processes for awarding units of high school credit to students based on a demonstration of subject area competency

## Text

House Bill 294
By: Representatives Miller of the 62nd, Glaize of the 67th, Carter of the 93rd, McQueen of the
61st, Berry of the 56th, and others
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Part 3 of Article 6 of Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia
Annotated, relating to educational programs under the "Quality Basic Education Act," so as
to require the State Board of Education to review and update, as necessary, policies,
guidelines, and processes for awarding units of high school credit to students based on a
demonstration of subject area competency; to include international baccalaureate exams
among the assessments to be identified by the State Board of Education for students to
demonstrate subject area competency; to prohibit the State School Superintendent from being
authorized to deny, delay, or otherwise interfere with the approval of any performance based
assessment identified and approved by the State Board of Education; to provide for statutory
construction; to provide for applicability; to provide for related matters; to provide for an
effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Part 3 of Article 6 of Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated,
relating to educational programs under the "Quality Basic Education Act," is amended by
revising Code Section 20-2-159.4, relating to policies and guidelines for awarding units of
high school credit based on demonstrated proficiency, as follows:
"20-2-159.4.
(a) <ins>By August 1, 2025, the</ins> <del>The</del> State Board of Education, in consultation with the Board
of Regents of the University System of Georgia and the State Board of the Technical
College System of Georgia, shall <del>adopt</del> <ins>review and update, as necessary,</ins> policies and
<del>establish</del> guidelines for awarding units of high school credit to students based on a
demonstration of subject area competency, instead of or in combination with completion
of courses of classroom instruction. Such policies and guidelines shall clearly delineate the
manner in which students can earn credit, how mastery of standards will be assessed, how
locally developed assessments will be reviewed and approved, how such credit will be
recorded on high school transcripts, and when outcomes as a result of these policies and
guidelines will be reviewed. The state board shall adopt such policies and establish
guidelines, and such policies and guidelines shall be applicable beginning with the
<del>2013-2014</del> <ins>2025-2026</ins> school year.
(b) Students may earn credits through:
(1) The completion of courses; or
(2) The testing out or otherwise demonstrating mastery of the course content.
(c) The state board shall identify assessments, including various commercial assessments,
for immediate use for students to demonstrate subject area competency, which may
include, but not be limited to:
(1) Advanced placement exams;
(2) ACT course assessment;
(3) Industry-specific certificates and industry credentialing, as defined in Code Section
20-2-326, for career, technical, and agricultural education courses;
(4) College Level Examination Program (CLEP) exams; <del>and
</del> (5) Nationally recognized foreign language performance assessments; <ins>and
</ins>
<ins>(6) International baccalaureate exams administered in conjunction with the completion
of an international baccalaureate diploma program.
(d)</ins> The state board shall establish a process for reviewing and approving performance
based assessments developed commercially, by the state, or by a local school system.
Initially, the state board shall limit the number of credits earned though such educational
options to three credits per student until the practice is proven to yield student outcomes
at least equivalent to those found in standard seat-time courses. The policy shall ensure
that credit for demonstrated proficiency is reported on student transcripts in the same way
that seat-time credit is recorded. The state board shall review such policy after three years
to determine if student outcomes from these educational options are equivalent to, if not
better than, student outcomes in traditional courses.
<ins>(e) No policy, guideline, and process established by the state board pursuant to this Code
section shall authorize the State School Superintendent to deny, delay, or otherwise
interfere with the approval of any performance based assessment identified and approved
by the state board pursuant to subsections (c) and (d) of this Code section.
</ins> <del>(d)(f)</del> Each local school system shall comply with the state board's <del>plan</del> <ins>policies,
guidelines, and processes</ins> adopted pursuant to this Code section and shall award units of
high school credit in accordance with such <del>plan</del> <ins>policies, guidelines, and processes.</ins> Local
boards of education and <del>charter schools</del> <ins>other public school governing bodies</ins> shall
establish implementation policies and shall be prohibited from setting policies that negate
or otherwise <del>prohibit access to such plan</del> <ins>impede compliance with such policies, guidelines,
and processes.
(g) Nothing in this Code section shall be construed to require any local school system or
public school to include any advanced placement or international baccalaureate course
among the courses that are available to students enrolled in such local school system or
public school."
</ins>
SECTION 2.
This Act shall become effective on July 1, 2025.
SECTION 3.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.

## Summaries written by Georgia Commons

The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the bill. Quote the text, not the summary.

A Georgia House bill would require the State Board of Education to update its rules for awarding high school credit based on subject mastery, add international baccalaureate exams to the approved tests, and stop the State School Superintendent from blocking approved assessments.

### Plain-language summary

Georgia law already lets students earn high school credit by demonstrating mastery of a subject, such as through advanced placement exams, instead of just completing a course. This bill updates that law (O.C.G.A. § 20-2-159.4) by requiring the State Board of Education, by August 1, 2025, to review and update its policies and guidelines for awarding this kind of credit, rather than simply adopting them once as under current law.
The bill adds international baccalaureate exams taken as part of an IB diploma program to the list of assessments students can use to show subject mastery. It also blocks the State School Superintendent from denying, delaying, or otherwise interfering with any performance based assessment the state board has already approved. Local school systems and other public school governing bodies must follow the state board's policies and cannot adopt local rules that undercut them. The updated rules apply starting with the 2025-2026 school year, and the law takes effect July 1, 2025.

### What it does

- Requires the State Board of Education to review and update, rather than just adopt once, its policies for awarding high school credit based on subject mastery, by August 1, 2025.
- Adds international baccalaureate exams taken during an IB diploma program to the list of assessments students can use to demonstrate subject competency.
- Prohibits the State School Superintendent from denying, delaying, or interfering with any performance based assessment the state board has already identified and approved.
- Changes the school year when updated credit policies take effect from 2013-2014 to 2025-2026.
- Extends the rule against local governing bodies undercutting state credit policies to all public school governing bodies, not just charter schools.
- Clarifies that the law does not require any school to offer AP or IB courses just because those exams count toward credit.

### Who it affects

Public school students seeking credit through exams or mastery demonstrations, the State Board of Education, the State School Superintendent, local school boards and other public school governing bodies, and students enrolled in international baccalaureate diploma programs across Georgia.

### Why it matters

Students who take IB exams would gain a clearer path to earning high school credit without retaking a full course, and once the state board approves an assessment method, the State Superintendent could no longer hold up or block its use, changing how quickly new credit options reach classrooms.

### Key provisions

- Section 1 requires the state board, in consultation with the Board of Regents and the Technical College System, to review and update credit policies by August 1, 2025.
- Subsection (c)(6) adds international baccalaureate exams taken with an IB diploma program to the list of qualifying assessments.
- New subsection (e) bars the State School Superintendent from denying, delaying, or interfering with any performance based assessment the state board has approved.
- Subsection (f) requires local school systems and other public school governing bodies to follow the state board's policies and bars them from adopting rules that impede compliance.
- New subsection (g) clarifies schools are not required to offer AP or IB courses simply because this Code section counts their exams toward credit.
- Section 2 sets the effective date as July 1, 2025, with updated credit policies applying starting the 2025-2026 school year.

## Status

- Status: Introduced (2025-02-05)
- Last action: House Second Readers (2025-02-10)
- Sponsors: Tanya Miller, Lydia Glaize, Doreen Carter, Mekyah McQueen, Bryce Berry, Inga Willis
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/69964

> The history, votes, and amendments (129 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb294.md?full=1