House Bill 1697
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Florida House of Representatives - 1999 HB 1697
By Representative Betancourt
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to postsecondary student fees;
3 amending s. 239.117, F.S.; revising provisions
4 relating to financial aid fees for workforce
5 development programs; specifying authorized
6 fees for workforce development programs;
7 amending s. 240.319, F.S.; correcting cross
8 references; specifying fees authorized to be
9 established by community college boards of
10 trustees; amending s. 240.35, F.S.; revising
11 requirements regarding fee schedules,
12 matriculation and tuition fees, financial aid
13 fees, and capital improvement and technology
14 fees; providing an effective date.
15
16 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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18 Section 1. Subsections (8), (9), and (16) of section
19 239.117, Florida Statutes, 1998 Supplement, are amended,
20 subsections (10) through (15) of said section are renumbered
21 as subsections (9) through (14), respectively, subsection (17)
22 is renumbered as subsection (15), and new subsections (16),
23 (17), and (18) are added to said section, to read:
24 239.117 Workforce development postsecondary student
25 fees.--
26 (8) Each school board and community college board of
27 trustees may establish a separate fee collect, for financial
28 aid purposes in, up to an additional amount of up to 10
29 percent of the student fees collected for workforce
30 development programs funded through the Workforce Development
31 Education Fund. All fees collected shall be deposited into a
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1 separate workforce development student financial aid fee trust
2 fund of the district or community college to support students
3 enrolled in workforce development programs. Any undisbursed
4 balance remaining in the trust fund and interest income
5 accruing to investments from the trust fund shall increase the
6 total funds available for distribution to workforce
7 development education students. Awards shall be based on
8 student financial need and distributed in accordance with a
9 nationally recognized system of need analysis approved by the
10 State Board for Career Education. Fees collected pursuant to
11 this subsection shall be allocated in an expeditious manner.
12 (9) A district school board or a community college
13 board of trustees may charge other fees only as authorized by
14 rule of the State Board of Education or the State Board of
15 Community Colleges.
16 (16) School boards and community college boards of
17 trustees may establish, by rule, a consumable supply fee for
18 postsecondary students enrolled in certificate career
19 education or supplemental courses.
20 (16) Community colleges and district school boards are
21 not authorized to charge students enrolled in workforce
22 development programs any fee that is not specifically
23 authorized by statute. In addition to matriculation, tuition,
24 financial aid, capital improvement, and technology fees, as
25 authorized in this section, community colleges and district
26 school boards are authorized to establish fee schedules for
27 the following user fees and fines: laboratory fees; parking
28 fees and fines; library fees and fines; fees and fines
29 relating to facilities and equipment use or damage; access or
30 identification card fees; duplicating, photocopying, binding,
31 or microfilming fees; standardized testing fees; diploma
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Florida House of Representatives - 1999 HB 1697
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1 replacement fees; transcript fees; application fees;
2 graduation fees; and late fees related to registration and
3 payment. Such user fees and fines shall not exceed the cost of
4 the services provided and shall only be charged to persons
5 receiving the service.
6 (17) Each district school board and community college
7 district board of trustees is authorized to establish specific
8 fees for workforce development instruction not reported for
9 state funding purposes or for workforce development
10 instruction not reported as state funded full-time equivalent
11 students. District school boards and district boards of
12 trustees are not required to charge any other fee specified in
13 this section for this type of instruction.
14 (18) Each district school board and community college
15 district board of trustees is authorized to establish a
16 separate fee for technology, not to exceed 5 percent of the
17 matriculation fee for resident students, and not more than 5
18 percent of the matriculation and tuition fee for nonresident
19 students, or the equivalent, to support implementation of
20 technology improvement plans. The technology fee may apply to
21 both college credit and vocational credit instruction.
22 Section 2. Paragraph (t) of subsection (4) of section
23 240.319, Florida Statutes, 1998 Supplement, is amended, and
24 paragraph (y) is added to said subsection, to read:
25 240.319 Community college district boards of trustees;
26 duties and powers.--
27 (4) Such rules, procedures, and policies for the
28 boards of trustees include, but are not limited to, the
29 following:
30 (t) Each board of trustees is authorized to borrow
31 funds and incur debt, including the issuance of revenue bonds
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Florida House of Representatives - 1999 HB 1697
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1 as specifically authorized in ss. 239.117(15)(17) and
2 240.35(14)(13), only for the new construction and equipment,
3 renovation, or remodeling of educational facilities. At the
4 option of the board of trustees, bonds may be issued which are
5 secured by a combination of revenues authorized to be pledged
6 to bonds pursuant to ss. 239.117(15)(17) and 240.35(14)(13).
7 (y) In addition to matriculation, tuition, financial
8 aid, capital improvement, student activity and service, and
9 technology fees authorized in s. 240.35, each board of
10 trustees is authorized to establish fee schedules for the
11 following user fees and fines; laboratory fees; parking fees
12 and fines; library fees and fines; fees and fines relating to
13 facilities and equipment use or damage; access or
14 identification card fees; duplicating, photocopying, binding,
15 or microfilming fees; standardized testing fees; diploma
16 replacement fees; transcript fees; application fees;
17 graduation fees; and late fees related to registration and
18 payment. Such user fees and fines shall not exceed the cost of
19 the services provided and shall only be charged to persons
20 receiving the service. Community colleges are not authorized
21 to charge any fee that is not specifically authorized by
22 statute.
23 Section 3. Subsections (6), (7), and (14), and
24 paragraphs (a) and (c) of subsection (11) of section 240.35,
25 Florida Statutes, 1998 Supplement, are amended, and subsection
26 (16) is added to said section, to read:
27 240.35 Student fees.--Unless otherwise provided, the
28 provisions of this section apply only to fees charged for
29 college credit instruction leading to an associate in arts
30 degree, an associate in applied science degree, or an
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1 associate in science degree and noncollege credit
2 college-preparatory courses defined in s. 239.105.
3 (6) Subject to review and final approval by the State
4 Board of Education, The State Board of Community Colleges
5 shall adopt by December 31 of each year a resident fee
6 schedule for the following fall for advanced and professional,
7 associate in science degree, and college-preparatory programs
8 that produce revenues in the amount of 25 percent of the full
9 prior year's cost of these programs. However, the board may
10 not adopt an annual fee increase in any program for resident
11 students which exceeds 10 percent. Fees for courses in
12 college-preparatory programs and associate in arts and
13 associate in science degree programs may be established at the
14 same level. In the absence of a provision to the contrary in
15 an appropriations act, the fee schedule shall take effect and
16 the colleges shall expend the funds on instruction. If the
17 Legislature provides for an alternative fee schedule
18 calculation in an appropriations act, the fee schedule shall
19 take effect the subsequent fall semester board shall establish
20 a fee schedule that produces the fee revenue established in
21 the appropriations act based on the assigned enrollment.
22 (7) Each community college board of trustees shall
23 establish matriculation and tuition fees, which may vary no
24 more than 10 percent below and 15 percent above from the fee
25 schedule adopted by the State Board of Community Colleges,
26 provided that any amount from 10 to 15 percent above the fee
27 schedule is used only to support safety and security
28 improvements.
29 (11)(a) Each community college is authorized to
30 establish a separate fee collect for financial aid purposes in
31 an additional amount up to, but not to exceed, 5 percent of
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1 the total student tuition or matriculation fees collected.
2 Each community college may collect up to an additional 2
3 percent if the amount generated by the total financial aid fee
4 is less than $250,000. If the amount generated is less than
5 $250,000, a community college that charges tuition and
6 matriculation fees at least equal to the average fees
7 established by rule may transfer from the general current fund
8 to the scholarship fund an amount equal to the difference
9 between $250,000 and the amount generated by the total
10 financial aid fee assessment. No other transfer from the
11 general current fund to the loan, endowment, or scholarship
12 fund, by whatever name known, is authorized.
13 (c) Up to 25 percent or $300,000, whichever is
14 greater, of the financial aid fees collected may be used to
15 assist students who demonstrate academic merit; who
16 participate in athletics, public service, cultural arts, and
17 other extracurricular programs as determined by the
18 institution; or who are identified as members of a targeted
19 gender or ethnic minority population. The financial aid fee
20 revenues allocated for athletic scholarships and fee
21 exemptions provided pursuant to subsection (15) for athletes
22 shall be distributed equitably as required by s.
23 228.2001(3)(d). A minimum of 50 percent of the balance of
24 these funds shall be used to provide financial aid based on
25 absolute need, and the remainder of the funds shall be used
26 for academic merit purposes and other purposes approved by the
27 district boards of trustees. Such other purposes shall
28 include the payment of child care fees for students with
29 financial need. The State Board of Community Colleges shall
30 develop criteria for making financial aid awards. Each
31 college shall report annually to the Department of Education
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1 on the criteria used to make awards, the amount and number of
2 awards for each criterion, and a delineation of the
3 distribution of such awards. Awards which are based on
4 financial need shall be distributed in accordance with a
5 nationally recognized system of need analysis approved by the
6 State Board of Community Colleges. An award for academic merit
7 shall require a minimum overall grade point average of 3.0 on
8 a 4.0 scale or the equivalent for both initial receipt of the
9 award and renewal of the award.
10 (14) Each community college board of trustees may
11 establish a separate fee for capital improvements, technology
12 enhancements, or equipping student buildings which may not
13 exceed 5 percent of the matriculation fee for resident
14 students or 5 percent of the matriculation and tuition fee for
15 nonresident students $1 per credit hour or credit-hour
16 equivalent for residents and which equals or exceeds $3 per
17 credit hour for nonresidents. Funds collected by community
18 colleges through these fees may be bonded only for the purpose
19 of financing or refinancing new construction and equipment,
20 renovation, or remodeling of educational facilities. The fee
21 shall be collected as a component part of the registration and
22 tuition fees, paid into a separate account, and expended only
23 to construct and equip, maintain, improve, or enhance the
24 educational facilities of the community college. Projects
25 funded through the use of the capital improvement fee shall
26 meet the survey and construction requirements of chapter 235.
27 Pursuant to s. 216.0158, each community college shall identify
28 each project, including maintenance projects, proposed to be
29 funded in whole or in part by such fee. Capital improvement
30 fee revenues may be pledged by a board of trustees as a
31 dedicated revenue source to the repayment of debt, including
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1 lease-purchase agreements and revenue bonds, with a term not
2 to exceed 20 years, and not to exceed the useful life of the
3 asset being financed, only for the new construction and
4 equipment, renovation, or remodeling of educational
5 facilities. Community colleges may use the services of the
6 Division of Bond Finance of the State Board of Administration
7 to issue any bonds authorized through the provisions of this
8 subsection. Any such bonds issued by the Division of Bond
9 Finance shall be in compliance with the provisions of the
10 State Bond Act. Bonds issued pursuant to the State Bond Act
11 shall be validated in the manner provided by chapter 75. The
12 complaint for such validation shall be filed in the circuit
13 court of the county where the seat of state government is
14 situated, the notice required to be published by s. 75.06
15 shall be published only in the county where the complaint is
16 filed, and the complaint and order of the circuit court shall
17 be served only on the state attorney of the circuit in which
18 the action is pending. A maximum of 15 cents per credit hour
19 may be allocated from the capital improvement fee for child
20 care centers conducted by the community college.
21 (16) Each community college district board of trustees
22 is authorized to establish a separate fee for technology,
23 which may not exceed 5 percent of the matriculation fee for
24 resident students or 5 percent of the matriculation and
25 tuition fee for nonresident students, to support
26 implementation of technology improvement plans. The technology
27 fee may apply to both college credit and college-preparatory
28 instruction.
29 Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 1999.
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Florida House of Representatives - 1999 HB 1697
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2 HOUSE SUMMARY
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Revises provisions relating to financial aid fees for
4 workforce development programs. Specifies authorized fees
for workforce development programs. Specifies fees
5 authorized to be established by community college boards
of trustees. Revises requirements regarding fee
6 schedules, matriculation and tuition fees, financial aid
fees, and capital improvement and technology fees.
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