| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship |
| 3 | Program; amending s. 1009.532, F.S.; requiring a student |
| 4 | to complete a specified number of community service or |
| 5 | internship hours in order to be eligible to renew a |
| 6 | scholarship under the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship |
| 7 | Program; allowing a student to restore eligibility if such |
| 8 | hours are insufficient for renewal; providing an effective |
| 9 | date. |
| 10 |
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| 11 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 12 |
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| 13 | Section 1. Subsection (1) of section 1009.532, Florida |
| 14 | Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 15 | 1009.532 Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program; |
| 16 | student eligibility requirements for renewal awards.-- |
| 17 | (1) To be eligible to renew a scholarship from any of the |
| 18 | three types of scholarships under the Florida Bright Futures |
| 19 | Scholarship Program, a student must: |
| 20 | (a) Complete at least 12 semester credit hours or the |
| 21 | equivalent in the last academic year in which the student earned |
| 22 | a scholarship. |
| 23 | (b) Beginning with the 2010-2011 incoming freshman class |
| 24 | of a postsecondary educational institution, complete at least 20 |
| 25 | hours of unpaid community service or an unpaid internship within |
| 26 | the state as approved and administered by the Department of |
| 27 | Education during the last academic year in which the student |
| 28 | earned a scholarship. The student may choose to perform unpaid |
| 29 | community service or complete an unpaid internship with any of |
| 30 | the following entities, including, but not limited to: |
| 31 | 1. A municipal or county government, the state government, |
| 32 | or the Federal Government; |
| 33 | 2. A not-for-profit organization; or |
| 34 | 3. A service learning program. |
| 35 | (c)(b) Maintain the cumulative grade point average |
| 36 | required by the scholarship program, except that: |
| 37 | 1. If a recipient's grades fall beneath the average |
| 38 | required to renew a Florida Academic Scholarship, but are |
| 39 | sufficient to renew a Florida Medallion Scholarship or a Florida |
| 40 | Gold Seal Vocational Scholarship, the Department of Education |
| 41 | may grant a renewal from one of those other scholarship |
| 42 | programs, if the student meets the renewal eligibility |
| 43 | requirements; |
| 44 | 2. If, at any time during the eligibility period, a |
| 45 | student's grades are insufficient to renew the scholarship, the |
| 46 | student may restore eligibility by improving the grade point |
| 47 | average to the required level. A student is eligible for such a |
| 48 | restoration one time. The Legislature encourages education |
| 49 | institutions to assist students to calculate whether or not it |
| 50 | is possible to raise the grade point average during the summer |
| 51 | term. If the institution determines that it is possible, the |
| 52 | education institution may so inform the department, which may |
| 53 | reserve the student's award if funds are available. The renewal, |
| 54 | however, must not be granted until the student achieves the |
| 55 | required cumulative grade point average. If the summer term is |
| 56 | not sufficient to raise the grade point average to the required |
| 57 | renewal level, the student's next opportunity for renewal is the |
| 58 | fall semester of the following academic year; or |
| 59 | 3. If, at any time during the eligibility period, a |
| 60 | student's community service or internship hours are insufficient |
| 61 | to renew the scholarship, the student may restore eligibility by |
| 62 | completing the hours for which the student is deficient. A |
| 63 | student is eligible for such a restoration one time. The student |
| 64 | must inform the Department of Education that restoration is |
| 65 | sought, and at such time the department may reserve the |
| 66 | student's award if funds are available. The renewal, however, |
| 67 | must not be granted until the student completes the required |
| 68 | hours for which the student is deficient. If the summer term is |
| 69 | not sufficient to complete the required hours for renewal, the |
| 70 | student's next opportunity for renewal is the fall semester of |
| 71 | the following academic year at which time the student must |
| 72 | complete the hours required for restoration and the hours |
| 73 | required for renewal; or |
| 74 | 4.3. If a student is receiving a Florida Bright Futures |
| 75 | Scholarship, is a servicemember of the Florida National Guard or |
| 76 | United States Reserves while attending a postsecondary |
| 77 | institution, is called to active duty or state active duty, as |
| 78 | defined in s. 250.01, prior to completing his or her degree, and |
| 79 | meets all other requirements for the scholarship, the student |
| 80 | shall be eligible to continue the scholarship for 2 years after |
| 81 | completing active duty or state active duty. |
| 82 | Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2008. |