Jun. 17, 9:00 AM
The Education Interim Committee of the State Legislature holds a public meeting.
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Feb. 23 - Mar. 22
Comcast Newsmakers interviews Robyn Bagley about www.Utah-EducationFacts.com
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Mar. 12
The 2009 Legislative Session concluded on Thursday, March 12th at midnight
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This year marks the 25th anniversary of the landmark report, A Nation at Risk.
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In the 2007-08 school year, Utah spent $8,224 per public school student.
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Charter schools are independent public schools run by parents or non-profits.
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The average class size in Utah is 22.2
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High school students can graduate with an associate's degree and a scholarship worth 75% of college tuition.
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Tools for Parents School Options/Programs
Use the links below to learn more about the school options available in Utah, or scroll further down the page to read brief descriptions of each program.
| Publicly Funded Options | |
Public School Choice Special Education Technology/Vocational Advanced Courses | Online Schools/Courses Tutoring Programs College Credit
College Scholarships Pre-School |
Private/Home School Options
| Home School Private School | Online Schools Private School Scholarships |
Advanced Placement is a 37 course (22 exam) program designed by the College Board and offered at many of Utah's high schools. AP courses are rigorous and are designed to prepare students for success on corresponding AP exams. High school credit is earned by successful completion of an AP course, but college credit may only be earned by submitting AP exam scores to the college of your choice. Many colleges recognize AP exam credit as college credit or advanced placement. Each college will have unique policies regarding how they award credit for AP exam scores.
High school students throughout the state of Utah may enroll in a local campus of the Utah College of Applied Technology as part of their high school experience. They are able to earn both high school credit for their coursework, as well as any certification that the college offers.
The Basic Skills Education Program (BSEP) is designed to help fund remediation (tutoring) for high school students who have been unable to pass all of the subtests on the Utah Basic Skills Competency Test (UBSCT) and have scored below a certain score on those subtests. The program will pay the remediation provider after the student successfully passes the UBSCT. The amount available for tutoring depends on the student's initial score.
High school students throughout the state of Utah may enroll in a local campus of the Utah College of Applied Technology as part of their high school experience. They are able to earn both high school credit for their coursework, as well as any certification that the college offers.
The Special Needs Scholarship is a state funded program that provides private school scholarships to K-12 students with disabilities. Scholarship amounts range from $3,865 to $6,442 depending on the amount of special education services that the student requires. Currently, over 45 private schools across the state participate in the program.
The Centennial Scholarship for Early Graduation provides a scholarship for college tuition to students who graduate high school early. The scholarship will pay up to $1,000 a year for college tuition during what would have been the student's junior and senior years at high school.
Charter schools are public schools that are created by a group of parents, teachers, or community leaders. Charter schools are governed by a charter or contract with the government rather than being operated by a school district. In this way, charter schools have more freedom than the traditional public school to innovate while being held accountable to the obligations and performance standards in their governing charter.
Since charter schools have no geographical boundaries, they must be responsive to the families they serve or risk losing them. In the 2008-09 school year, 67 charter schools will be in operation in Utah with more opening each year.
Children First Utah (CFU) was organized in response to the hopelessness thousands of low-income families face when their children are trapped in schools that are failing them. CFU believes that every family, regardless of financial circumstance, needs access to a quality education tailored to their children’s needs. Many public schools cannot meet this ideal and low-income families have no affordable alternatives. CFU offers tuition assistance to low-income families in Utah, empowering concerned parents with educational options for their children.
Concurrent Enrollment provides high school juniors and seniors with an opportunity to earn both high school and college credit for college-level courses and even graduate high school with an Associate's Degree. Classes are available in Math, Science, Social Studies, Language Arts, Fine Arts, Humanities, World Languages, Career Technical programs, and Education at high schools throughout the state. Official college credit will be awarded by the partner college after courses are successfully completed.
Students who use concurrent enrollment to graduate with an Associate's Degree are eligible to receive a scholarship to Utah colleges and/or universities. Learn more>>
Dual enrollment allows home, charter, private, and online school students to participate in public school courses or extracurricular activities at their resident public school. With Dual Enrollment, parents have flexibility to select which public school classes, activities, or functions their child participates in.
Utah public schools are required to provide programs for gifted and talented students. Each school district has differing assessment standards and programs, but in each case they are designed to challenge students beyond the core curriculum.
Home school puts parents solely in charge of their children's education. Parents are required to cover the Utah Core Curriculum and spend the same amount of time providing instructions, but parents are responsible for how, and when they will provide this instruction.
The International Baccalaureate is an non-profit organization that offers three programs that educate children ages 3-19. These three programs provide schools with an international curriculum intended to be acceptable to universities around the world.
In Utah, the IB program refers to the Diploma Program, which is offered at several high schools along the Wasatch Front. Students participating in the IB Diploma Program can earn a high school diploma as well as the internationally recognized IB Diploma. Students may also be able to earn college credit or advanced standing at universities and colleges throughout the world.
The New Century Scholarship program provides college scholarships to students who complete an Associate's Degree with a 3.0 GPA by September 1st of the same year their class graduates high school. Due to economic downturn, legislative budget cuts, and increased numbers of qualified applicants, the award amount for the New Century Scholarship has been reduced for the 2009-2010 academic year to 40% of tuition charges (does not include fees). Students who are attending Brigham Young University or Westminster College will receive 40 percent of average tuition of state four year institutions.
The No Child Left Behind Act, or NCLB, is a nationwide accountability system for schools receiving federal funding. Schools that fail to meet certain standards outlined in NCLB must offer their students the option of transferring to another school or tutoring services.
There are many companies that offer K-12 courses online. Some of these programs are designed for full-time students, while others are meant to supplement conventional private or public school attendance.
Within Utah's Public School System there are several virtual school programs. These programs provide online instruction for students outside of traditional classrooms.
Open enrollment allows Utah students to attend any public school in the state so long as it has capacity (based on the school district's average class size). Local school boards are required to post information on their district's website showing each school's open enrollment capacity.
Utah has approximately 130 private schools across the state. Although most are located along the Wasatch Front, there are several in rural areas like Garland and Ft. Duchesne. Utah has a mix of religious, non-religious, for-profit, and non-profit private schools serving a broad range of student needs and abilities. In all cases, Utah's private schools must meet minimum safety standards. Many private schools are accredited by the same agencies that accredit public schools.
Special education refers to a range of educational and social services provided by the public school system and other educational institutions to individuals with disabilities who are between three and 21 years of age.
Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), schools receiving federal money must guarantee that all children with disabilities receive a "free, appropriate public education." The services provided to a child with disabilities is determined by his or her Individualized Education Plan (IEP).
There are over 750 traditional public schools in Utah operated by 41 school districts. Each public school operates under the direction of the school district in which it resides. Public schools are responsible for educating the school-aged children who reside within their boundaries, although Utah's Open Enrollment program allows parents to send their child to any public school so long as there is capacity. Charter schools are a type of public school, but differ from traditional public schools in that they do not have geographical boundaries. They are accountable to standards set in a contract (or charter) with the government, rather than being administered by a school district.
The Regents' Scholarship program provides college scholarships to high school students who graduate with a 3.0 GPA or higher. Currently, the scholarship is worth 55% of tuition. The amount of the scholarship for next year is yet to be deteriminded.
The Basic Skills Education Program (BSEP) is designed to help fund remediation (tutoring) for high school students who have been unable to pass all of the subtests on the Utah Basic Skills Competency Test (UBSCT) and have scored below a certain score on those subtests. The program will pay the remediation provider after the student successfully passes the UBSCT. The amount available for tutoring depends on the student's initial score.
Utah UPSTART is an online pilot program for pre-schoolers. The program uses online software developed by the Waterford Institute and is funded by the state of Utah. The program consists of 15 minute lessons that pre-school students complete 5 days a week.
