| 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 appropriation; providing an |
| 17 | effective date. |
| 18 |
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| 19 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 20 |
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| 21 | Section 1. Section 1009.701, Florida Statutes, is created |
| 22 | to read: |
| 23 | 1009.701 First Generation Matching Grant Program.-- |
| 24 | (1) The First Generation Matching Grant Program is created |
| 25 | to enable each state university and community college to provide |
| 26 | donors with a matching grant incentive for contributions that |
| 27 | will create grant-based student financial aid for undergraduate |
| 28 | students who demonstrate financial need and whose parents, as |
| 29 | defined in s. 1009.21(1), have not earned a baccalaureate |
| 30 | degree. |
| 31 | (2) Funds appropriated by the Legislature for the program |
| 32 | shall be allocated by the Office of Student Financial Assistance |
| 33 | to match private contributions on a dollar-for-dollar basis. |
| 34 | Contributions made to a state university or community college |
| 35 | and pledged for the purposes of this section are eligible for |
| 36 | state matching funds appropriated for this program and are not |
| 37 | eligible for any other state matching grant program. Pledged |
| 38 | contributions are not eligible for matching prior to the actual |
| 39 | collection of the total funds. The Office of Student Financial |
| 40 | Assistance shall reserve 50 percent of the total appropriated |
| 41 | funds for state universities and the remaining 50 percent for |
| 42 | community colleges. Within each 50-percent portion, the Office |
| 43 | of Student Financial Assistance shall reserve a proportionate |
| 44 | allocation for each state university and community college on |
| 45 | the basis of full-time equivalent enrollments. Funds that remain |
| 46 | unmatched as of December 1 shall be reallocated to state |
| 47 | universities and community colleges that have remaining |
| 48 | unmatched private contributions for the program on the basis of |
| 49 | full-time equivalent enrollments. |
| 50 | (3) Payment of the state matching grant shall be |
| 51 | transmitted to the president of each participating institution |
| 52 | or his or her representative in advance of the student |
| 53 | registration period. |
| 54 | (4) Each participating state university and community |
| 55 | college shall establish an application process, determine |
| 56 | student eligibility for initial and renewal awards in |
| 57 | conformance with subsection (5), identify the amount awarded to |
| 58 | each recipient, and notify recipients of the amount of their |
| 59 | awards. |
| 60 | (5) In order to be eligible to receive a grant pursuant to |
| 61 | this section, an applicant shall: |
| 62 | (a) Be a resident for tuition purposes pursuant to s. |
| 63 | 1009.21. |
| 64 | (b) Be a first generation college student. For the |
| 65 | purposes of this section, a student is considered "first |
| 66 | generation" if neither of the student's parents, as defined in |
| 67 | s. 1009.21(1), earned a college degree at the baccalaureate |
| 68 | level or higher. |
| 69 | (c) Be accepted at a state university or community |
| 70 | college. |
| 71 | (d) Be enrolled for a minimum of 6 credit hours per term |
| 72 | as a degree-seeking undergraduate student. |
| 73 | (e) Have demonstrated financial need by completing the |
| 74 | Free Application for Federal Student Aid. |
| 75 | (6) The award amount shall be based on the student's need |
| 76 | assessment after any scholarship or grant aid, including, but |
| 77 | not limited to, a Pell Grant or a Florida Bright Futures |
| 78 | Scholarship Program award, has been applied. No award may exceed |
| 79 | the institution's estimated annual cost of attendance for |
| 80 | comparable undergraduate students attending the institution. |
| 81 | (7) Each participating institution shall report to the |
| 82 | Office of Student Financial Assistance, by the date established |
| 83 | by the office, the eligible students to whom grant moneys are |
| 84 | disbursed each academic term. Institutions shall certify to the |
| 85 | Office of Student Financial Assistance the amount of funds |
| 86 | disbursed to each student and shall remit to the office any |
| 87 | undisbursed advances by June 1 of each year. |
| 88 | (8) No later than July 1 of each year, each participating |
| 89 | institution shall report to the Executive Office of the |
| 90 | Governor, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the |
| 91 | President of the Senate, each community college shall report to |
| 92 | the State Board of Education, and each state university shall |
| 93 | report to the Board of Governors regarding eligibility |
| 94 | requirements for recipients, the aggregate demographics of |
| 95 | recipients, retention and graduation rates of recipients, and a |
| 96 | delineation of funds awarded to recipients. |
| 97 | (9) This section shall be implemented only as specifically |
| 98 | funded. |
| 99 | Section 2. Section 1009.255, Florida Statutes, is created |
| 100 | to read: |
| 101 | 1009.255 Out-of-state fee exemption.-- |
| 102 | (1) A student who meets all of the following requirements |
| 103 | may be eligible for an exemption from paying out-of-state fees |
| 104 | assessed pursuant to s. 1009.22, s. 1009.23, or s. 1009.24: |
| 105 | (a) The student resided in Florida with a parent for at |
| 106 | least 3 consecutive years immediately preceding the date the |
| 107 | student received a high school diploma, or its equivalent, and |
| 108 | attended a Florida public high school for at least 3 consecutive |
| 109 | school years during such time. |
| 110 | (b) The student is accepted by and enrolls in a community |
| 111 | college or state university within 12 months after receiving a |
| 112 | high school diploma or its equivalent. |
| 113 | (c) The student submits an application for the exemption |
| 114 | to the Department of Education in the manner prescribed by the |
| 115 | department and by the deadline established by the department. |
| 116 | (2)(a) For the 2006-2007 academic year, the Department of |
| 117 | Education shall distribute the exemptions in the following |
| 118 | manner: |
| 119 | 1. To the first 1,500 students currently enrolled in a |
| 120 | community college or state university who have a cumulative |
| 121 | grade point average of at least 2.0 and who submit an |
| 122 | application to the department and meet the criteria in |
| 123 | subsection (1). |
| 124 | 2. To the top 500 students in academic performance in |
| 125 | Florida public high schools who submit an application to the |
| 126 | department and meet the criteria in subsection (1). |
| 127 | (b) Beginning with the 2007-2008 academic year, the |
| 128 | Department of Education shall issue no more than 500 new |
| 129 | exemptions per year to the top 500 students in academic |
| 130 | performance in Florida public high schools who submit an |
| 131 | application to the department and meet the criteria in |
| 132 | subsection (1). |
| 133 | (c) In order to retain the exemption, a student must have |
| 134 | completed at least 12 semester credit hours or the equivalent in |
| 135 | the previous academic year and maintain at least a 2.0 |
| 136 | cumulative grade point average. |
| 137 | (3)(a) The Department of Education shall administer the |
| 138 | exemption program, develop an application form, and establish |
| 139 | deadlines and guidelines for student participation. |
| 140 | (b) The department shall issue the exemptions by August 31 |
| 141 | of each year and shall notify the student and the community |
| 142 | college or state university in which the student is enrolled. |
| 143 | (4) The exemption may not be used for remedial courses, |
| 144 | graduate-level courses, or professional-level courses. |
| 145 | Section 3. For the 2006-2007 fiscal year, the sum of $14 |
| 146 | million is appropriated from recurring general revenue to the |
| 147 | Office of Student Financial Assistance for the First Generation |
| 148 | Matching Grant Program. The Office of Student Financial |
| 149 | Assistance shall allocate these funds pursuant to the provisions |
| 150 | of s. 1009.701, Florida Statutes. |
| 151 | Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2006. |