RELIEVE COLLEGE COSTS PROGRAM

Creates the Relieve College Costs Pilot Program Act. Creates a pilot program for a 4-year degree pathway based on texts that served as the core foundational basis for western civilization and the Enlightenment, under which one public high school, one public community college, and one public university shall develop a competency-based baccalaureate degree program for a Fundamental Issues and Texts Humanities Degree. Includes as goals of the program: (1) preparing students with skills relating to critical thinking, problem solving, rational inquiry, and oral and written communication needed for employment or further graduate study; (2) using open educational resources if available; (3) using online course options if available to reduce costs; (4) identifying pathway courses to promote dual credit course enrollment in the participating high school; and (5) having a $20,000 maximum tuition rate for the entirety of the degree pathway. Contains provisions concerning a program director, the curriculum, open educational resources, reporting, and rulemaking. Effective immediately. House Floor Amendment No. 1 In provisions concerning the panel created by the State Board of Education, Illinois Community College Board, and Board of Higher Education, requires the panel to seek and identify initiatives to support the use of foundational materials and original sources that reside in the public domain or open educational resource materials in support of the degree program (rather than only to seek and identify initiatives to support the use of open educational resource materials). Provides that the panel is dissolved on January 31, 2023. Provides that a public institution, at the request of its board of trustees, must highlight the courses that use low-cost digital or print options for students (rather than courses that may have a lost-cost option for print versions).