HB 795

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to student financial assistance; creating
3	s. 1009.701, F.S.; creating the First Generation Matching
4	Grant Program to provide financial aid to undergraduate
5	students with financial need whose parents have not earned
6	a baccalaureate degree; providing for appropriation,
7	allocation, and distribution of funds; providing student
8	eligibility requirements; providing the basis for the
9	amount of awards; providing duties of institutions
10	participating in the program; creating s. 1009.255, F.S.;
11	providing an out-of-state fee exemption; providing
12	eligibility criteria; providing for distribution of the
13	exemption; limiting participation in the program;
14	requiring the Department of Education to administer the
15	exemption program; prohibiting use of the exemption for
16	certain purposes; providing an effective date.
17
18	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
19
20	Section 1.  Section 1009.701, Florida Statutes, is created
21	to read:
22	1009.701  First Generation Matching Grant Program.--
23	(1)  The First Generation Matching Grant Program is created
24	to enable each state university and community college to provide
25	donors with a matching grant incentive for contributions that
26	will create grant-based student financial aid for undergraduate
27	students who demonstrate financial need and whose parents, as
28	defined in s. 1009.21(1), have not earned a baccalaureate
29	degree.
30	(2)  Funds appropriated by the Legislature for the program
31	shall be allocated by the Office of Student Financial Assistance
32	to match private contributions on a dollar-for-dollar basis.
33	Contributions made to a state university or community college
34	and pledged for the purposes of this section are eligible for
35	state matching funds appropriated for this program and are not
36	eligible for any other state matching grant program. Pledged
37	contributions are not eligible for matching prior to the actual
38	collection of the total funds. The Office of Student Financial
39	Assistance shall reserve 50 percent of the total appropriated
40	funds for state universities and the remaining 50 percent for
41	community colleges. Within each 50-percent portion, the Office
42	of Student Financial Assistance shall reserve a proportionate
43	allocation for each state university and community college on
44	the basis of full-time equivalent enrollments. Funds that remain
45	unmatched as of December 1 shall be reallocated to state
46	universities and community colleges that have remaining
47	unmatched private contributions for the program on the basis of
48	full-time equivalent enrollments.
49	(3)  Payment of the state matching grant shall be
50	transmitted to the president of each participating institution
51	or his or her representative in advance of the student
52	registration period.
53	(4)  Each participating state university and community
54	college shall establish an application process, determine
55	student eligibility for initial and renewal awards in
56	conformance with subsection (5), identify the amount awarded to
57	each recipient, and notify recipients of the amount of their
58	awards.
59	(5)  In order to be eligible to receive a grant pursuant to
60	this section, an applicant shall:
61	(a)  Be a resident for tuition purposes pursuant to s.
62	1009.21.
63	(b)  Be a first generation college student. For the
64	purposes of this section, a student is considered "first
65	generation" if neither of the student's parents, as defined in
66	s. 1009.21(1), earned a college degree at the baccalaureate
67	level or higher.
68	(c)  Be accepted at a state university or community
69	college.
70	(d)  Be enrolled for a minimum of 6 credit hours per term
71	as a degree-seeking undergraduate student.
72	(e)  Have demonstrated financial need by completing the
73	Free Application for Federal Student Aid.
74	(6)  The award amount shall be based on the student's need
75	assessment after any scholarship or grant aid, including, but
76	not limited to, a Pell Grant or a Florida Bright Futures
77	Scholarship Program award, has been applied. No award may exceed
78	the institution's estimated annual cost of attendance for
79	comparable undergraduate students attending the institution.
80	(7)  Each participating institution shall report to the
81	Office of Student Financial Assistance, by the date established
82	by the office, the eligible students to whom grant moneys are
83	disbursed each academic term. Institutions shall certify to the
84	Office of Student Financial Assistance the amount of funds
85	disbursed to each student and shall remit to the office any
86	undisbursed advances by June 1 of each year.
87	(8)  No later than July 1 of each year, each participating
88	institution shall report to the Executive Office of the
89	Governor, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the
90	President of the Senate, each community college shall report to
91	the State Board of Education, and each state university shall
92	report to the Board of Governors regarding eligibility
93	requirements for recipients, the aggregate demographics of
94	recipients, retention and graduation rates of recipients, and a
95	delineation of funds awarded to recipients.
96	(9)  This section shall be implemented only as specifically
97	funded.
98	Section 2.  Section 1009.255, Florida Statutes, is created
99	to read:
100	1009.255  Out-of-state fee exemption.--
101	(1)  A student who meets all of the following requirements
102	may be eligible for an exemption from paying out-of-state fees
103	assessed pursuant to s. 1009.22, s. 1009.23, or s. 1009.24:
104	(a)  The student resided in Florida with a parent for at
105	least 3 consecutive years immediately preceding the date the
106	student received a high school diploma, or its equivalent, and
107	attended a Florida public high school for at least 3 consecutive
108	school years during such time.
109	(b)  The student is accepted by and enrolls in a community
110	college or state university within 12 months after receiving a
111	high school diploma or its equivalent.
112	(c)  The student submits an application for the exemption
113	to the Department of Education in the manner prescribed by the
114	department and by the deadline established by the department.
115	(2)(a)  For the 2006-2007 academic year, the Department of
116	Education shall distribute the exemptions in the following
117	manner:
118	1.  To the first 1,500 students currently enrolled in a
119	community college or state university who have a cumulative
120	grade point average of at least 2.0 and who submit an
121	application to the department and meet the criteria in
122	subsection (1).
123	2.  To the top 500 students in academic performance in
124	Florida public high schools who submit an application to the
125	department and meet the criteria in subsection (1).
126	(b)  Beginning with the 2007-2008 academic year, the
127	Department of Education shall issue no more than 500 new
128	exemptions per year to the top 500 students in academic
129	performance in Florida public high schools who submit an
130	application to the department and meet the criteria in
131	subsection (1).
132	(c)  In order to retain the exemption, a student must have
133	completed at least 12 semester credit hours or the equivalent in
134	the previous academic year and maintain at least a 2.0
135	cumulative grade point average.
136	(3)(a)  The Department of Education shall administer the
137	exemption program, develop an application form, and establish
138	deadlines and guidelines for student participation.
139	(b)  The department shall issue the exemptions by August 31
140	of each year and shall notify the student and the community
141	college or state university in which the student is enrolled.
142	(4)  The exemption may not be used for remedial courses,
143	graduate-level courses, or professional-level courses.
144	Section 3.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2006.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.