Florida Senate - 2009                                    SB 2096
       
       
       
       By Senator Oelrich
       
       
       
       
       14-01112B-09                                          20092096__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to nonpublic postsecondary educational
    3         institutions; amending s. 1005.32, F.S.; revising the
    4         criteria for licensure by means of accreditation for
    5         an independent postsecondary educational institution;
    6         requiring that, in order to maintain its license, an
    7         institution file a report with the Commission for
    8         Independent Education which includes the results of a
    9         site visit performed by an accrediting agency;
   10         requiring that each institution request such site
   11         visits; authorizing the commission to request a site
   12         visit performed by an accrediting agency; providing an
   13         effective date.
   14  
   15  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   16  
   17         Section 1. Subsection (1) and present subsection (3) of
   18  section 1005.32, Florida Statutes, are amended, present
   19  subsections (3) through (7) are redesignated as subsections (4)
   20  through (8), respectively, and a new subsection (3) is added to
   21  that section, to read:
   22         1005.32 Licensure by means of accreditation.—
   23         (1) An independent postsecondary educational institution
   24  that meets the following criteria may apply for a license by
   25  means of accreditation from the commission:
   26         (a) The institution has operated legally in this state for
   27  at least 5 consecutive years.
   28         (b) The institution holds institutional accreditation by an
   29  accrediting agency evaluated and approved by the commission as
   30  having reporting, organizational, and operating standards
   31  substantially equivalent to the commission's licensure
   32  standards.
   33         (c) The institution has no unresolved complaints or actions
   34  in the past 12 months.
   35         (d) The institution meets minimum requirements for
   36  financial responsibility as determined by the commission.
   37         (e) The institution is a Florida corporation.
   38         (3) Beginning January 1, 2010, in order to maintain a
   39  license by means of accreditation, each licensed institution
   40  shall provide the commission with a site report prepared by its
   41  accrediting agency which includes a visit to each location
   42  licensed in the state. Each institution shall be responsible for
   43  requesting periodic site visits and shall file the site report,
   44  prepared by the accrediting agency, with the commission. The
   45  commission, at its discretion, may request a site visit to be
   46  performed by the accrediting agency.
   47         (4)(3) Except as provided in subsection (3), the commission
   48  may not require an institution granted a license by means of
   49  accreditation to submit reports that differ from the reports
   50  required by its accrediting association, except that each
   51  institution must file with the commission an annual audit report
   52  and follow the commission's requirements for orderly closing,
   53  including provisions for trainout or refunds and arranging for
   54  the proper disposition of student and institutional records.
   55         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2009.