Higher education; providing certain concurrent enrollment tuition waiver to juniors and seniors who declare intention to teach. Effective date. Emergency.

SB 233, the "Teacher Shortage Reduction Act," provides tuition waivers for Oklahoma high school juniors and seniors planning to become teachers. Seniors qualify for waivers covering up to 18 credit hours of resident tuition, while juniors get up to 9 credit hours, both subject to available funding. To receive the waiver, students must formally declare their intention to teach on a required form. If they fail to complete teaching requirements, they must repay the waived tuition. The bill directly targets future educators to address teacher shortages in Oklahoma.