The Florida Senate

240.6055  Access grants for community college graduates.--

(1)  The Legislature finds and declares that there exist severe limitations on access to State University System courses and programs for graduates of Florida community colleges; that accredited baccalaureate-degree-granting independent nonprofit colleges and universities are an integral part of the higher education system in this state; that there exist significant numbers of upper-division spaces in such institutions; that the burdens on public colleges and universities would be lessened if community college graduates had the ability to utilize such institutions for completion of their baccalaureate degrees; and that creation of a state program to provide access grants for community college graduates would further the improvement of the overall educational system in the state.

(2)  There is created the Access Grant Fund for Community College Graduates to be administered by the Department of Education. The State Board of Education shall adopt rules for the administration of such fund.

(3)  Effective with the 1994-1995 academic year, the department shall issue from the fund an access grant to any full-time degree-seeking undergraduate student who has received an associate in arts degree from a Florida community college and who is registered at an eligible independent nonprofit college or university. An eligible independent nonprofit college or university is one which has signed an articulation agreement with the State Board of Community Colleges, which is located in and chartered by the state, which is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, which grants baccalaureate degrees, which is not a state university or state community college, and which has a secular purpose.

(4)  A person is eligible to receive an access grant if:

(a)  He or she meets the general requirements, including residency, for student eligibility as provided in s. 240.404, except as otherwise provided in this section.

(b)1.  He or she is enrolled as a full-time undergraduate student at an eligible independent nonprofit college or university.

2.  He or she is not enrolled in a program of study leading to a degree in theology or divinity.

3.  He or she is making satisfactory academic progress as defined in the college or university in which he or she is enrolled.

(c)  Application for the access grant is made during the student's first term of enrollment at the eligible independent college or university.

(5)(a)  In the absence of specifications to the contrary in an appropriations act, the amount of the access grant issued to a full-time student shall be for the amount of demonstrated unmet need, but shall not, in combination with other state-funded private tuition assistance, exceed 50 percent of the full cost to the state per academic year of an undergraduate student in public postsecondary education established pursuant to s. 240.209. The access grant may be paid on a prorated basis in advance of the registration period. The department shall make such payments to the college or university in which the student is enrolled for credit to the student's account for payment of tuition and fees. Institutions shall certify to the department the amount of funds disbursed to each student and shall remit to the department any undisbursed advances or refunds within 60 days of the end of regular registration. Students shall not be eligible to receive the award for more than 5 semesters or 7 quarters.

(b)  The priority in the distribution of access grants shall be on the basis of the lowest family contribution as calculated under the congressional methodology for Title IV of the Higher Education Act. The access grant is intended to supplement other awards to the student.

History.--s. 3, ch. 93-191; s. 79, ch. 95-148.