Florida Senate - 2009                             CS for SB 2096
       
       
       
       By the Committee on Higher Education; and Senator Oelrich
       
       
       
       
       589-04447-09                                          20092096c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to nonpublic postsecondary educational
    3         institutions; amending s. 1005.32, F.S.; revising the
    4         criteria for licensure by means of accreditation for
    5         an independent postsecondary educational institution;
    6         requiring that, in order to maintain its license, an
    7         institution file a report with the Commission for
    8         Independent Education which includes the results of a
    9         site visit performed by an accrediting agency;
   10         requiring that each institution request such site
   11         visits; authorizing the commission to request a site
   12         visit performed by an accrediting agency; providing an
   13         effective date.
   14  
   15  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   16  
   17         Section 1. Subsection (1) and present subsection (3) of
   18  section 1005.32, Florida Statutes, are amended, present
   19  subsections (3) through (7) are redesignated as subsections (4)
   20  through (8), respectively, and a new subsection (3) is added to
   21  that section, to read:
   22         1005.32 Licensure by means of accreditation.—
   23         (1) An independent postsecondary educational institution
   24  that meets the following criteria may apply for a license by
   25  means of accreditation from the commission:
   26         (a) The institution has operated legally in this state for
   27  at least 5 consecutive years.
   28         (b) The institution holds institutional accreditation by an
   29  accrediting agency evaluated and approved by the commission as
   30  having reporting, organizational, and operating standards
   31  substantially equivalent to the commission’s licensure
   32  standards.
   33         (c) The institution has no unresolved complaints or actions
   34  in the past 12 months.
   35         (d) The institution meets minimum requirements for
   36  financial responsibility as determined by the commission.
   37         (e) The institution is a Florida corporation.
   38         (3)(a) In order to maintain a license by means of
   39  accreditation, each licensed institution shall:
   40         1. Provide to the commission, on or before January 1, 2010,
   41  a site report prepared by its accrediting agency which includes
   42  a visit to each location licensed in the state.
   43         2. Request affirmation site visits as necessary to maintain
   44  its accreditation and file with the commission the site report
   45  prepared by the accrediting agency which shall include a visit
   46  to each location licensed in the state.
   47         (b) The commission, at its discretion, may request a site
   48  visit to be performed by the accrediting agency for purposes of
   49  investigating any suspected violation of this chapter or rule of
   50  the commission.
   51         (4)(3) Except as provided in subsection (3), the commission
   52  may not require an institution granted a license by means of
   53  accreditation to submit reports that differ from the reports
   54  required by its accrediting association, except that each
   55  institution must file with the commission an annual audit report
   56  and follow the commission’s requirements for orderly closing,
   57  including provisions for trainout or refunds and arranging for
   58  the proper disposition of student and institutional records.
   59         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2009.