Senate Bill sb1750c2

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    Florida Senate - 2006                    CS for CS for SB 1750

    By the Committees on Education Appropriations; Education; and
    Senators Lawson, Bullard, Lynn, Miller, Wilson and Dawson




    602-2446-06

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to student financial

  3         assistance; creating s. 1009.701, F.S.;

  4         creating the First Generation Matching Grant

  5         Program to provide financial aid to

  6         undergraduate students of a state university

  7         who have a financial need and whose parents

  8         have not earned a baccalaureate degree;

  9         providing for the appropriation, allocation,

10         and distribution of funds; providing student

11         eligibility requirements; providing duties of

12         institutions participating in the program;

13         providing an appropriation; creating s.

14         1009.892, F.S.; requiring postsecondary

15         institutions to include certain testing costs

16         in the costs of attendance; providing an

17         effective date.

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19  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

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21         Section 1.  Section 1009.701, Florida Statutes, is

22  created to read:

23         1009.701  First Generation Matching Grant Program.--

24         (1)  The First Generation Matching Grant Program is

25  created to enable each state university to provide donors with

26  a matching grant incentive for contributions that will create

27  grant-based student financial aid for undergraduate students

28  who demonstrate financial need and whose parents, as defined

29  in s. 1009.21(1), have not earned a baccalaureate degree. In

30  the case of any individual who regularly resided with and

31  received support from only one parent, an individual whose

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    Florida Senate - 2006                    CS for CS for SB 1750
    602-2446-06




 1  only such parent did not complete a baccalaureate degree would

 2  also be eligible.

 3         (2)  Funds appropriated by the Legislature for the

 4  program shall be allocated by the Office of Student Financial

 5  Assistance to match private contributions on a

 6  dollar-for-dollar basis. Contributions made to a state

 7  university and pledged for the purposes of this section are

 8  eligible for state matching funds appropriated for this

 9  program and are not eligible for any other state matching

10  grant program. Pledged contributions are not eligible for

11  matching prior to the actual collection of the total funds.

12  The Office of Student Financial Assistance shall reserve a

13  proportionate allocation of the total appropriated funds for

14  each state university on the basis of full-time equivalent

15  enrollment. Funds that remain unmatched as of December 1 shall

16  be reallocated to state universities that have remaining

17  unmatched private contributions for the program on the basis

18  of full-time equivalent enrollment.

19         (3)  Payment of the state matching grant shall be

20  transmitted to the president of each participating institution

21  or his or her representative in advance of the official

22  drop-add deadline as defined by the institution.

23         (4)  Each participating state university shall

24  establish an application process, determine student

25  eligibility for initial and renewal awards in conformance with

26  subsection (5), identify the amount awarded to each recipient,

27  and notify recipients of the amount of their awards.

28         (5)  In order to be eligible to receive a grant

29  pursuant to this section, an applicant must:

30         (a)  Be a resident for tuition purposes pursuant to s.

31  1009.21.

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    Florida Senate - 2006                    CS for CS for SB 1750
    602-2446-06




 1         (b)  Be a first-generation college student. For the

 2  purposes of this section, a student is considered "first

 3  generation" if neither of the student's parents, as defined in

 4  s. 1009.21(1), earned a college degree at the baccalaureate

 5  level or higher or, in the case of any individual who

 6  regularly resided with and received support from only one

 7  parent, if that parent did not earn a baccalaureate degree.

 8         (c)  Be accepted at a state university.

 9         (d)  Be enrolled for a minimum of six credit hours per

10  term as a degree-seeking undergraduate student.

11         (e)  Have demonstrated financial need by completing the

12  Free Application for Federal Student Aid.

13         (f)  Meet additional eligibility requirements as

14  established by the institution.

15         (6)  The award amount shall be based on the student's

16  need assessment after any scholarship or grant aid, including,

17  but not limited to, a Pell Grant or a Bright Futures

18  Scholarship, has been applied. An award may not exceed the

19  institution's estimated annual cost of attendance for the

20  student to attend the institution.

21         (7)  Each participating institution shall report to the

22  Office of Student Financial Assistance by the date established

23  by the office the eligible students to whom grant moneys are

24  disbursed each academic term. Each institution shall certify

25  to the Office of Student Financial Assistance the amount of

26  funds disbursed to each student and shall remit to the office

27  any undisbursed advances by June 1 of each year.

28         (8)  No later than July 1, each participating

29  institution shall annually report to the Executive Office of

30  the Governor, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the

31  House of Representatives, and the Board of Governors, the

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    Florida Senate - 2006                    CS for CS for SB 1750
    602-2446-06




 1  eligibility requirements for recipients, the aggregate

 2  demographics of recipients, the retention and graduation rates

 3  of recipients, and a delineation of funds awarded to

 4  recipients.

 5         (9)  This section shall be implemented only as

 6  specifically funded.

 7         Section 2.  For the 2006-2007 fiscal year, the

 8  recurring sum of $6.5 million from the General Revenue Fund is

 9  appropriated to the Department of Education for the First

10  Generation Matching Grant Program pursuant to this act.

11         Section 3.  Section 1009.892, Florida Statutes, is

12  created to read:

13         1009.892  Cost of attendance; adult norm-referenced

14  testing.--

15         (1)  A public or private postsecondary institution

16  shall include in its cost of attendance adult norm-referenced

17  testing that it requires for eligible students to qualify for

18  accommodations for disabilities.

19         (2)  To be eligible, a student must be a legal resident

20  of this state, as defined in s. 1009.21; must be enrolled in

21  at least 6 semester hours, or the equivalent, per term in a

22  degree, certificate, or diploma program; and must have

23  documented learning disabilities under the Individuals with

24  Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 or the

25  Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

26         Section 4.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2006.

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    Florida Senate - 2006                    CS for CS for SB 1750
    602-2446-06




 1          STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
                       COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
 2                     CS for Senate Bill 1750

 3                                 

 4  The committee substitute for committee substitute for SB 1750
    provides that only institutions within the state university
 5  system are eligible for the First Generation Matching Grant
    funds.  It provides for a recurring appropriation of $6.5
 6  million from the General Revenue Fund to be used for the grant
    program.  It also requires that private and public
 7  postsecondary institutions include adult norm-referenced
    testing utilized to determine student eligibility for
 8  accommodations for disabilities in their cost of attendance.

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