Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced a higher education overhaul adamant on benefiting students across Arkansas.
The Arkansas ACCESS proposal was announced Feb. 14 and filed by Republican senators Jonathan Dismang and Matthew Shepherd. The 122-page bill covers higher education funding, admission issues, scholarship funding, course credit organization and more.
The bill also pushes against DEI initiatives to prevent “indoctrination” inside the classroom.
Shepherd’s House Bill 1512 and Dismang’s Senate Bill 246 both make extensive changes to the preexisting law surrounding higher education.
Sanders made her goals clear when the bills were proposed.
“Higher education should be available to anyone who wants it, right after high school or many years down the line and ACCESS will make that a reality,” said Sanders at the press conference where the bill was announced.
Arkansas ACCESS mirrors Sanders’ LEARNS Act bill from 2023, which revamped Arkansas’ K-12 education system. ACCESS stands for acceleration, common sense, cost, eligibility, scholarships and standardization — representing the main priorities of the bill.
The legislation breaks down each term and the key components they represent. Acceleration ensures that high school students have the skills necessary for higher education, including expanding the selection of accelerated courses in high school. Common sense establishes what a free, unbiased higher education learning environment is.
This prevents the use of DEI as a standard in schools. Cost represents the reform of the funding model for various higher education paths. Cost also allows funding for concurrent higher education credits for high school students. Eligibility provides for more uniform and efficient admissions policies. This creates a simple, state-wide college application to lower the intimidation of the admissions process. Scholarships help eliminate financial barriers to further education. Finally, Standardization aids students in getting closer to graduation by standardizing course numbering across state-sponsored higher education institutions and increasing the amount of Gen-ed and CTE in Arkansas’ Course Transfer System.
UCA President Houston Davis said, “As introduced, there are measures that should be beneficial to students in credit-based degree programs and non-credit programs, so UCA and many other universities and colleges should benefit from that support and encouragement.”
Davis stated that UCA will monitor the progress throughout the legislative sessions.
“UCA supports any measure to support the successful enrollment and graduation of our students, and we look forward to working with Governor Sanders and the Arkansas legislature as we all work to increase the capacity for the success of our students at UCA and others across the state,” Davis said.
Director of Governmental Affairs and External Relations Jeremy Gillam broke down what UCA’s student body should know about the ACCESS bill.
“UCA’s current and future students will be helped by the increase in first-year lottery scholarship amounts, a common admissions application for all Arkansas Universities, and a common course numbering for all Arkansas Universities,” Gillam said.
“Those items plus a change to the scholarship stacking policy will not only make life a little easier for students but will also affect affordability in a positive way,” Gillam said.
Sanders’ Arkansas ACCESS bill is now before the House of Senate Education Committee. Gillam said even the small changes will matter.
“There’s a lot of different things that aren’t necessarily the headline grabbers, but that are functionally going to be really important to our students,” he said.