---
type: "Bill"
title: "Twenty-first century scholars program."
description: "Provides that the commission for higher education shall do the following: (1) In cooperation with the department of education, identify students who meet the requirements to participate in the twenty-first century scholars program (program). (2) Notify the student and the custodial parent or guardian of the student, if the student is an unemancipated minor, that: (A) the student is eligible to participate in the program; (B) the student must agree to the conditions required to participate in the program; and (C) the student has the right to opt out of the program at any time."
jurisdiction: "us/states/in"
legislature: "Indiana General Assembly"
session: "2023"
identifier: "HB 1449"
citation: "Indiana HB 1449 (2023)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["EDUCATION", "Secretary of Education", "State Department and Boards", "HIGHER EDUCATION", "Colleges and Universities", "STUDENT ASSISTANCE", "LOANS", "AND GRANTS"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Earl Harris", "Eddie Melton", "Jeff Raatz", "Jon Ford"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 31
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2023-01-17"
last_action: "2023-05-04"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/36e2cf5c-103d-417f-be89-74b4fab45efd"
source_url: "http://iga.in.gov/legislative/2023/bills/house/1449"
source_hash: "0aacc28bc01f7b397253b8e390b67a705f6591baa5f6c2b79a481a94eb335e2f"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-in"]
---

# Indiana HB 1449 (2023) — Twenty-first century scholars program.

Provides that the commission for higher education shall do the following: (1) In cooperation with the department of education, identify students who meet the requirements to participate in the twenty-first century scholars program (program). (2) Notify the student and the custodial parent or guardian of the student, if the student is an unemancipated minor, that: (A) the student is eligible to participate in the program; (B) the student must agree to the conditions required to participate in the program; and (C) the student has the right to opt out of the program at any time.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Enrolled House Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2023/bills/HB1449/versions/HB1449.06.ENRS)
2. **House Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2023/bills/HB1449/versions/HB1449.02.COMH)
3. **House Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2023/bills/HB1449/versions/HB1449.03.COMH)
4. **House Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2023/bills/HB1449/versions/HB1449.04.COMS)
5. **House Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2023/bills/HB1449/versions/HB1449.05.COMS)
6. **Introduced House Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2023/bills/HB1449/versions/HB1449.01.INTR)

## Votes

- HB 1449 - Raatz - 3rd Reading — **48–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Earl Harris — primary (person)
- Eddie Melton — primary (person)
- Jeff Raatz — primary (person)
- Jon Ford — primary (person)
- Fady Qaddoura — cosponsor (person)
- J.D. Ford — cosponsor (person)
- Jean Leising — cosponsor (person)
- Lonnie Randolph — cosponsor (person)
- Robert Behning — coauthor (person)
- Robert Morris — coauthor (person)
- Shelli Yoder — cosponsor (person)
- Vaneta Becker — cosponsor (person)
- Vernon Smith — coauthor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2023-01-17** Authored by Representative Harris
- **2023-01-17** First reading: referred to Committee on Education `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2023-01-17** Representative Smith, V. added as coauthor
- **2023-01-30** Representatives Behning and Davis M added as coauthors
- **2023-02-02** Committee report: amend do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2023-02-02** Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means pursuant to House Rule 127
- **2023-02-09** Committee report: do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2023-02-13** Second reading: ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2023-02-16** Senate sponsors: Senators Raatz, Melton, Ford Jon
- **2023-02-16** Cosponsor: Senator Qaddoura
- **2023-02-16** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 148: yeas 92, nays 1 `passage, reading-3, reading-3`
- **2023-02-16** Representative Davis M removed as coauthor
- **2023-02-16** Representative Morris added as coauthor
- **2023-02-17** Referred to the Senate `referral`
- **2023-02-27** First reading: referred to Committee on Education and Career Development `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2023-03-09** Senator Yoder added as cosponsor
- **2023-03-14** Senators Ford J.D. and Leising added as cosponsors
- **2023-03-16** Committee report: amend do pass adopted; reassigned to Committee on Appropriations `committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2023-04-03** Senator Randolph added as cosponsor
- **2023-04-06** Committee report: amend do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2023-04-10** Second reading: ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2023-04-11** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 374: yeas 48, nays 0 `passage, reading-3, reading-3`
- **2023-04-11** Senator Becker added as cosponsor
- **2023-04-12** Returned to the House with amendments `receipt`
- **2023-04-17** Motion to concur filed `filing`
- **2023-04-19** House concurred in Senate amendments; Roll Call 456: yeas 89, nays 1
- **2023-04-24** Signed by the Speaker `passage`
- **2023-04-28** Signed by the President of the Senate `passage`
- **2023-04-28** Signed by the President Pro Tempore `passage`
- **2023-05-04** Signed by the Governor `executive-signature`
- **2023-05-04** Public Law 235 `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/36e2cf5c-103d-417f-be89-74b4fab45efd`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Indiana legislature records).