Florida Senate - 2009                             CS for SB 2318
       
       
       
       By the Committee on Higher Education; and Senator Constantine
       
       
       
       
       589-05174A-09                                         20092318c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to postsecondary tuition rates;
    3         creating s. 1009.286, F.S.; requiring an additional
    4         payment for credit hours exceeding the requirements
    5         for completing a baccalaureate degree program;
    6         providing exceptions; requiring notice upon a
    7         student’s initial enrollment in a state university or
    8         community college; providing an effective date.
    9  
   10  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   11  
   12         Section 1. Section 1009.286, Florida Statutes, is created
   13  to read:
   14         1009.286 Additional student payment required for hours
   15  exceeding graduation requirements.—
   16         (1) It is the intent of the Legislature to encourage each
   17  undergraduate student who enrolls in a state university to
   18  complete the student’s respective baccalaureate degree program
   19  in the most efficient way possible while providing for access to
   20  additional college coursework. Therefore, the Legislature
   21  intends to enact a policy that provides incentives for efficient
   22  baccalaureate degree completion.
   23         (2) State universities shall require a student to pay an
   24  excess hour surcharge equal to 50 percent of the tuition rate
   25  for each credit hour in excess of 120 percent of the number of
   26  credit hours required to complete the baccalaureate degree
   27  program in which the student is enrolled, in accordance with the
   28  provisions of this section.
   29         (3) The provisions of this section shall become effective
   30  for students who enter a community college or a state university
   31  for the first time in the 2009-2010 academic year and
   32  thereafter.
   33         (4) Except as otherwise provided by law, and for purposes
   34  of this section, the following credit hours shall be included
   35  when calculating the number of hours taken by a student:
   36         (a) All credit hours for courses taken at the state
   37  university from which the student is seeking a baccalaureate
   38  degree, including failed courses, courses that are dropped after
   39  the university’s advertised last day of the drop and add period,
   40  and repeated courses, except repeated courses for which the
   41  student has paid the full cost of instruction as provided in s.
   42  1009.285.
   43         (b) All credit hours earned at another institution and
   44  accepted for transfer by the state university and applied toward
   45  the student’s baccalaureate degree program.
   46         (5) For purposes of this section, credit hours earned under
   47  the following circumstances are not calculated as hours required
   48  to earn a baccalaureate degree:
   49         (a) College credits earned through an articulated
   50  accelerated mechanism identified in s. 1007.27.
   51         (b) Credit hours earned through internship programs.
   52         (c) Credit hours required for certification,
   53  recertification, or certificate programs.
   54         (d) Credit hours in courses from which a student must
   55  withdraw due to reasons of medical or personal hardship.
   56         (e) Credit hours taken by active-duty military personnel.
   57         (f) Credit hours required to achieve a dual major taken
   58  while pursuing a baccalaureate degree.
   59         (g) Remedial and English as a Second Language credit hours.
   60         (h) Credit hours earned in military science courses
   61  (R.O.T.C.).
   62         (6) Each state university and community college shall
   63  implement a process for notifying students regarding the
   64  provisions of this section. The notice must be provided to a
   65  student upon his or her initial enrollment in the institution
   66  and again upon the student’s having earned the credit hours
   67  required to complete the baccalaureate degree program in which
   68  the student is enrolled. The notice must include a
   69  recommendation that each student who intends to earn credit
   70  hours at the institution in excess of the credit hours required
   71  for the baccalaureate degree program in which the student is
   72  enrolled meet with his or her academic advisor.
   73         (7) For purposes of this section, the term “state
   74  university” includes the institutions identified in s.
   75  1000.21(6) and the term “community college” includes the
   76  institutions identified in s. 1000.21(3).
   77         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2009.