Gov. Jared Polis has signed four higher education bills into law that affect standardized test requirements and credit for work experience, and clarify the eligible recipients for adult literacy and education grants.

House Bill 1407 will allow for institutions to choose whether to require a score from a national standardized test when admitting first-year students who graduate from high school in 2021. The measure, introduced in June, mirrors decisions in other states to make SAT and ACT test results optional, due to the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Senate Bill 175 requires that a student give permission for a standardized test score to appear on his or her high school transcript. Colorado administers the PSAT to all 10th grade students and the SAT to all high school juniors. Scores were automatically included on the transcripts.

House Bill 1002 directs the Department of Higher Education to study the process of awarding credit for prior experiences at colleges and universities, and have a plan for the 2022-2023 school year to accept work experience as college credit.

Senate Bill 9 redefines which entities are eligible for $1 million in adult literacy and education grants. Now, the program will include tribes and require in the grant criteria that providers should also support the children of adult learners. It would also include as a factor in grant awards the percentage of adults in a community who have not completed ninth grade.

“We know that in addition to increasing employment, adult education is necessary to ensure an adult population that is better prepared to support the educational attainment of the next generation and actively participate as citizens in a democratic society,” wrote Sen. Rachel Zenzinger, D-Arvada, one of the bill’s sponsors, on Facebook.