Florida Senate - 2010                                    SB 1966
       
       
       
       By Senator Baker
       
       
       
       
       20-01400-10                                           20101966__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to the Florida Bright Futures
    3         Scholarship Program; amending s. 1009.53, F.S.;
    4         requiring a student to reimburse the educational
    5         institution for award amounts received for certain
    6         courses dropped by the student or courses from which
    7         the student has withdrawn; requiring reimbursements to
    8         be refunded to the Department of Education; requiring
    9         an institution to notify the department and student of
   10         the amount due within a specified period; providing an
   11         effective date.
   12  
   13  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   14  
   15         Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (5) and subsection
   16  (11) of section 1009.53, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
   17         1009.53 Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program.—
   18         (5) The department shall issue awards from the scholarship
   19  program annually. Annual awards may be for up to 45 semester
   20  credit hours or the equivalent. Before the registration period
   21  each semester, the department shall transmit payment for each
   22  award to the president or director of the postsecondary
   23  education institution, or his or her representative, except that
   24  the department may withhold payment if the receiving institution
   25  fails to report or to make refunds to the department as required
   26  in this section.
   27         (a) Within 30 days after the end of regular registration
   28  each semester, the educational institution shall certify to the
   29  department the eligibility status of each student who receives
   30  an award. After the end of the drop and add period, an
   31  institution is not required to reevaluate or revise a student’s
   32  eligibility status; however, a student an institution must, make
   33  a refund to the department within 60 30 days after the end of
   34  the semester, reimburse or make satisfactory arrangements to
   35  reimburse the institution for the award amount of any funds
   36  received for courses dropped by the a student or courses from
   37  which the a student has withdrawn after the end of the drop and
   38  add period, unless the student has been granted an exception by
   39  the department pursuant to subsection (11). A reimbursement to
   40  an institution resulting from a student’s dropped course or a
   41  course from which a student has withdrawn after the end of the
   42  drop and add period shall be refunded to the department by the
   43  institution.
   44         (11) Funds for any scholarship within the Florida Bright
   45  Futures Scholarship Program may not be used to pay for courses
   46  dropped by a student or courses from which a student has
   47  withdrawn after the end of the drop and add period. However, a
   48  student who receives an award under this program and
   49  subsequently drops one or more courses or withdraws from all
   50  courses after the end of the drop and add period due to a
   51  verifiable illness or other documented emergency may be granted
   52  an exception pursuant to s. 1009.40(1)(b)4., unless the
   53  institution’s policy is to refund the cost of the courses. The
   54  department shall notify eligible recipients of the provisions of
   55  this subsection. Each institution shall notify award recipients
   56  of the provisions of this subsection during the registration
   57  process. Within 30 days after determining that a student has
   58  dropped a course or has withdrawn from a course after the end of
   59  the drop and add period, in the absence of an exception granted
   60  by the department under this subsection, the institution shall
   61  notify the department and the student of the amount due
   62  resulting from such course drop or withdrawal.
   63         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2010.