Senate Bill 2300c1
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Florida Senate - 2000 CS for SB 2300
By the Committee on Commerce and Economic Opportunities; and
Senator Diaz-Balart
310-2033-00
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to community colleges; amending
3 s. 239.117, F.S., relating to workforce
4 development postsecondary student fees;
5 decreasing financial aid fee amounts;
6 conforming provisions relating to fee waivers;
7 extending technology and student activity
8 service fees to workforce students; amending s.
9 240.35, F.S., relating to fees for
10 college-credit courses; clarifying increased
11 matriculation fees for safety and security
12 purposes; providing an effective date.
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14 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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16 Section 1. Subsections (5), (6), (8), and (18) of
17 section 239.117, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
18 239.117 Workforce development postsecondary student
19 fees.--
20 (5) School districts and community colleges may waive
21 fees for any fee-nonexempt student. The total value of fee
22 waivers granted by the school district or community college
23 may not exceed 8 percent of the district's or college's
24 postsecondary vocational certificate program enrollment hours
25 or an the amount established annually in the General
26 Appropriations Act. Any student whose fees are waived in
27 excess of the authorized amount may not be reported for state
28 funding purposes. Any school district or community college
29 that waives fees and requests state funding for a student in
30 violation of the provisions of this section shall be penalized
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Florida Senate - 2000 CS for SB 2300
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1 at a rate equal to 2 times the value of the full-time student
2 enrollment reported.
3 (6)(a) The Commissioner of Education shall provide to
4 the State Board of Education no later than December 31 of each
5 year a schedule of fees for workforce development education,
6 excluding continuing workforce education, for school districts
7 and community colleges. The fee schedule shall be based on the
8 amount of student fees necessary to produce 25 percent of the
9 prior year's average cost of a course of study leading to a
10 certificate or diploma. At the discretion of a school board or
11 a community college, this fee schedule may be implemented over
12 a 3-year period, with full implementation in the 1999-2000
13 school year. In years preceding that year, if fee increases
14 are necessary for some programs or courses, the fees shall be
15 raised in increments designed to lessen their impact upon
16 students already enrolled. Fees for students who are not
17 residents for tuition purposes must offset the full cost of
18 instruction. Fee-nonexempt students enrolled in
19 vocational-preparatory instruction shall be charged fees equal
20 to the fees charged for certificate career education
21 instruction. Each community college that conducts
22 college-preparatory and vocational-preparatory instruction in
23 the same class section may charge a single fee for both types
24 of instruction.
25 (b) Fees for continuing workforce education shall be
26 locally determined by the school board or community college.
27 However, at least 50 percent of the expenditures for the
28 continuing workforce education program provided by the
29 community college or school district must be derived from
30 fees.
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Florida Senate - 2000 CS for SB 2300
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1 (c) The State Board of Education shall adopt a fee
2 schedule for school districts that produces the fee revenues
3 calculated pursuant to paragraph (a). The schedule so
4 calculated shall take effect, unless otherwise specified in
5 the General Appropriations Act.
6 (d) The State Board of Education shall adopt, by rule,
7 the definitions and procedures that school boards shall use in
8 the calculation of cost borne by students.
9 (8) Each school board and community college board of
10 trustees may establish a separate fee for financial aid
11 purposes in an additional amount of up to 5 10 percent of the
12 student fees collected for workforce development programs
13 funded through the Workforce Development Education Fund. All
14 fees collected shall be deposited into a separate workforce
15 development student financial aid fee trust fund of the
16 district or community college to support students enrolled in
17 workforce development programs. Any undisbursed balance
18 remaining in the trust fund and interest income accruing to
19 investments from the trust fund shall increase the total funds
20 available for distribution to workforce development education
21 students. Awards shall be based on student financial need and
22 distributed in accordance with a nationally recognized system
23 of need analysis as established by each school board or
24 community college district board of trustees approved by the
25 State Board for Career Education. Fees collected pursuant to
26 this subsection shall be allocated in an expeditious manner.
27 (18) Each district school board and community college
28 district board of trustees is authorized to establish a
29 separate fee for technology, not to exceed $1.80 per credit
30 hour or credit-hour equivalent for resident students and not
31 more than $5.40 per credit hour or credit-hour equivalent for
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Florida Senate - 2000 CS for SB 2300
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1 nonresident students, or the equivalent, to be expended in
2 accordance with technology improvement plans. The technology
3 fee may apply only to associate degree programs and courses.
4 Fifty percent of technology fee revenues may be pledged by a
5 community college board of trustees as a dedicated revenue
6 source for the repayment of debt, including lease-purchase
7 agreements, not to exceed the useful life of the asset being
8 financed. Revenues generated from the technology fee may not
9 be bonded.
10 Section 2. Subsections (7) and (10) of section 240.35,
11 Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
12 240.35 Student fees.--Unless otherwise provided, the
13 provisions of this section apply only to fees charged for
14 college credit instruction leading to an associate in arts
15 degree, an associate in applied science degree, or an
16 associate in science degree and noncollege credit
17 college-preparatory courses defined in s. 239.105.
18 (7) Each community college board of trustees shall
19 establish matriculation and tuition fees, which may vary no
20 more than 10 percent below and 15 percent above the fee
21 schedule adopted by the State Board of Community Colleges,
22 provided that any amount from 10 to 15 percent above the fee
23 schedule is used only to support safety and security purposes.
24 In order to assess an additional amount for safety and
25 security purposes, a community college board of trustees must
26 provide written justification to the State Board of Community
27 Colleges based on criteria approved by the local board of
28 trustees, including but not limited to criteria such as local
29 crime data and information, and strategies for the
30 implementation of local safety plans. For 1999-2000, each
31 community college is authorized to increase the sum of the
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1 matriculation fee and technology fee by not more than 5
2 percent of the sum of the matriculation and local safety and
3 security fees in 1998-1999. However, no fee in 1999-2000 shall
4 exceed the prescribed statutory limit. Should a college decide
5 to increase the matriculation fee to a level between 10 and 15
6 percent above the standard matriculation fee, the funds raised
7 by increasing the matriculation fee must be expended solely
8 for additional safety and security purposes and shall not
9 supplant funding expended in the prior year's 1998-1999 budget
10 for safety and security purposes.
11 (10) Each community college district board of trustees
12 may establish a separate activity and service fee not to
13 exceed 10 percent of the matriculation fee, according to rules
14 of the State Board of Education. The student activity and
15 service fee shall be collected as a component part of the
16 registration and tuition fees. The student activity and
17 service fees shall be paid into a student activity and service
18 fund at the community college and shall be expended for lawful
19 purposes to directly benefit the student body in general.
20 These purposes include, but are not limited to, student
21 publications and grants to duly recognized student
22 organizations, the membership of which is open to all students
23 at the community college without regard to race, sex, or
24 religion.
25 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2000.
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Florida Senate - 2000 CS for SB 2300
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1 STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
2 SB 2300
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4 The committee substitute differs substantially from Senate
Bill 2300 in that it:
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-Does not require that at least 75 percent of the average cost
6 of instruction is to come from state funding; state funding is
to equal 75 percent of the average cost of instruction;
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-Does not require the local WAGES coalitions to pay to school
8 districts and community colleges the total costs incurred for
WAGES participants enrolled in workforce development education
9 programs and receiving college credit instruction; local WAGES
coalitions are to pay costs incurred for these participants;
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-Does not require that the fee schedule provided by the
11 Commissioner of Education to the State Board of Education be
based on the amount of student fees necessary to produce up to
12 25 percent of the prior year's average cost of a course of
study leading to a certificate or diploma; the fee schedule is
13 to be based on the amount of student fees necessary to produce
25 percent of such prior year's average cost of study;
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-Changes the source of the nationally recognized system of
15 need analysis for making awards from a school district's or
community college's workforce development student financial
16 aid fee trust fund; each school board or community college
board of trustees will establish the system of need analysis
17 rather than using one approved by the State Board for Career
Education; and
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-Does not set separate fees established for capital
19 improvements, technology enhancements, or equipping student
buildings at an amount not to exceed 5 percent of the
20 matriculation fee for resident students and 5 percent of the
matriculation and tuition fees for nonresident students; such
21 fees remain at $1 per credit hour or credit-hour equivalent
for residents and $3 per credit hour for nonresidents.
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