HB 403

1
A bill to be entitled
2An act relating to state university tuition and fees;
3amending s. 216.136, F.S.; requiring the Education
4Estimating Conference to develop information relating to
5the national average of tuition and fees; amending s.
61009.01, F.S.; revising the definition of the term
7"tuition differential"; amending s. 1009.24, F.S.;
8revising provisions relating to the use of the student
9financial aid fee; deleting obsolete provisions; revising
10provisions relating to the establishment of a tuition
11differential; providing requirements for the assessment
12and expenditure of a tuition differential; providing
13requirements for a university board of trustees to submit
14a proposal to the Board of Governors to implement a
15tuition differential; requiring the Board of Governors'
16review and approval of a proposal; requiring the Board of
17Governors to report specified information annually to the
18Legislature and the Governor; providing for application;
19providing an effective date.
20
21Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
22
23     Section 1.  Paragraph (a) of subsection (4) of section
24216.136, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
25     216.136  Consensus estimating conferences; duties and
26principals.--
27     (4)  EDUCATION ESTIMATING CONFERENCE.--
28     (a)  The Education Estimating Conference shall develop such
29official information relating to the state public and private
30educational system, including forecasts of student enrollments,
31the national average of tuition and fees at public postsecondary
32educational institutions, the number of students qualified for
33state financial aid programs and for the William L. Boyd, IV,
34Florida Resident Access Grant Program and the appropriation
35required to fund the full award amounts for each program, fixed
36capital outlay needs, and Florida Education Finance Program
37formula needs, as the conference determines is needed for the
38state planning and budgeting system. The conference's initial
39projections of enrollments in public schools shall be forwarded
40by the conference to each school district no later than 2 months
41prior to the start of the regular session of the Legislature.
42Each school district may, in writing, request adjustments to the
43initial projections. Any adjustment request shall be submitted
44to the conference no later than 1 month prior to the start of
45the regular session of the Legislature and shall be considered
46by the principals of the conference. A school district may amend
47its adjustment request, in writing, during the first 3 weeks of
48the legislative session, and such amended adjustment request
49shall be considered by the principals of the conference. For any
50adjustment so requested, the district shall indicate and
51explain, using definitions adopted by the conference, the
52components of anticipated enrollment changes that correspond to
53continuation of current programs with workload changes; program
54improvement; program reduction or elimination; initiation of new
55programs; and any other information that may be needed by the
56Legislature. For public schools, the conference shall submit its
57full-time equivalent student consensus estimate to the
58Legislature no later than 1 month after the start of the regular
59session of the Legislature. No conference estimate may be
60changed without the agreement of the full conference.
61     Section 2.  Subsection (3) of section 1009.01, Florida
62Statutes, is amended to read:
63     1009.01  Definitions.--The term:
64     (3)  "Tuition differential" means the supplemental fee
65charged to a student for instruction provided by a public
66university in this state pursuant to s. 1009.24(16).
67     Section 3.  Subsections (7) and (16) of section 1009.24,
68Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
69     1009.24  State university student fees.--
70     (7)  A university board of trustees is authorized to
71collect for financial aid purposes an amount not to exceed 5
72percent of the tuition and out-of-state fee. The revenues from
73fees are to remain at each campus and replace existing financial
74aid fees. Such funds shall be disbursed to students as quickly
75as possible. A minimum of 75 percent of funds from the student
76financial aid fee for new financial aid awards shall be used to
77provide financial aid based on absolute need. A student who has
78received an award prior to July 1, 1984, shall have his or her
79eligibility assessed on the same criteria that were used at the
80time of his or her original award. The Board of Governors shall
81develop criteria for making financial aid awards. Each
82university shall report annually to the Board of Governors and
83the Department of Education on the revenue collected pursuant to
84this subsection, the amount carried forward, the criteria used
85to make awards, the amount and number of awards for each
86criterion, and a delineation of the distribution of such awards.
87The report shall include an assessment by category of the
88financial need of every student who receives an award,
89regardless of the purpose for which the award is received.
90Awards which are based on financial need shall be distributed in
91accordance with a nationally recognized system of need analysis
92approved by the Board of Governors. An award for academic merit
93shall require a minimum overall grade point average of 3.0 on a
944.0 scale or the equivalent for both initial receipt of the
95award and renewal of the award.
96     (16)  Each university board of trustees may establish a
97tuition differential for undergraduate courses upon receipt of
98approval from the Board of Governors. The tuition differential
99shall promote improvements in the quality of undergraduate
100education and shall provide financial aid to undergraduate
101students who exhibit financial need.
102     (a)  Seventy-percent of the revenues from the tuition
103differential shall be expended for purposes of undergraduate
104education, including, but not limited to, increasing course
105offerings, improving graduation rates, increasing the percentage
106of undergraduate students who are taught by faculty, decreasing
107student-faculty ratios, providing salary increases for faculty
108who have a history of excellent teaching in undergraduate
109courses, improving the efficiency of the delivery of
110undergraduate education through academic advisement and
111counseling, and reducing the percentage of students who graduate
112with excess hours. This expenditure for undergraduate education
113may not be used to pay the salaries of graduate teaching
114assistants. The remaining 30 percent of the revenues from the
115tuition differential shall be expended to provide financial aid
116to undergraduate students who exhibit financial need to meet the
117cost of university attendance. This expenditure for need-based
118financial aid shall not supplant the amount of need-based aid
119provided to undergraduate students in the preceding fiscal year
120from financial aid fee revenues or the direct appropriation for
121financial assistance provided to state universities in the
122General Appropriations Act.
123     (b)  Each tuition differential is subject to the following
124conditions:
125     1.  The tuition differential may be assessed on one or more
126undergraduate courses or on all undergraduate courses at a state
127university.
128     2.  The tuition differential may vary by course or courses,
129campus or center location, and by institution.
130     3.  The aggregate sum of tuition and the tuition
131differential charged for a given course or courses may not be
132increased by more than 15 percent of the total charged for the
133aggregate sum of these fees in the same course or courses in the
134preceding fiscal year.
135     4.  The aggregate sum of undergraduate tuition and fees per
136credit hour, including the tuition differential, may not exceed
137the national average of undergraduate tuition and fees at 4-year
138degree-granting public postsecondary educational institutions.
139     5.  The tuition differential may not be calculated as a
140part of the scholarship programs established in ss. 1009.53-
1411009.538.
142     6.  Beneficiaries having prepaid tuition contracts pursuant
143to s. 1009.98(2)(b) which were in effect on July 1, 2007, and
144which remain in effect, are exempt from the payment of the
145tuition differential.
146     7.  The tuition differential may not be charged to any
147student who was in attendance at the university before July 1,
1482007, and who maintains continuous enrollment.
149     8.  The tuition differential may be waived by the
150university for students who meet the eligibility requirements
151for the Florida public student assistance grant established in
152s. 1009.50.
153     9.  Subject to approval by the Board of Governors, the
154tuition differential authorized pursuant to this subsection may
155take effect with the 2009 fall term.
156     (c)  A university board of trustees may submit a proposal
157to the Board of Governors to implement a tuition differential
158for one or more undergraduate courses. At a minimum, the
159proposal shall:
160     1.  Identify the course or courses for which the tuition
161differential will be assessed.
162     2.  Indicate the amount that will be assessed for each
163tuition differential proposed.
164     3.  Indicate the purpose of the tuition differential.
165     4.  Indicate how the revenues from the tuition differential
166will be used.
167     5.  Indicate how the university will monitor the success of
168the tuition differential in achieving the purpose for which the
169tuition differential is being assessed.
170     (d)  The Board of Governors shall review each proposal and
171advise the university board of trustees of approval of the
172proposal, the need for additional information or revision to the
173proposal, or denial of the proposal. The Board of Governors
174shall establish a process for any university to revise a
175proposal or appeal a decision of the board.
176     (e)  The Board of Governors shall submit a report to the
177President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of
178Representatives, and the Governor describing the implementation
179of the provisions of this subsection no later than January 1,
1802010, and no later than January 1 each year thereafter. The
181report shall summarize proposals received by the board during
182the preceding fiscal year and actions taken by the board in
183response to such proposals. In addition, the report shall
184provide the following information for each university that has
185been approved by the board to assess a tuition differential:
186     1.  The course or courses for which the tuition
187differential was assessed and the amount assessed.
188     2.  The total revenues generated by the tuition
189differential.
190     3.  With respect to waivers authorized under subparagraph
191(b)8., the number of students eligible for a waiver, the number
192of students receiving a waiver, and the value of waivers
193provided.
194     4.  Detailed expenditures of the revenues generated by the
195tuition differential.
196     5.  Changes in retention rates, graduation rates, the
197percentage of students graduating with more than 110 percent of
198the hours required for graduation, pass rates on licensure
199examinations, the number of undergraduate course offerings, the
200percentage of undergraduate students who are taught by faculty,
201student-faculty ratios, and the average salaries of faculty who
202teach undergraduate courses.
203     (f)  No state university shall be required to lower any
204tuition differential that was approved by the Board of Governors
205and in effect prior to January 1, 2009, in order to comply with
206the provisions of this subsection. The Board of Governors may
207establish a uniform maximum undergraduate tuition differential
208that does not exceed 40 percent of tuition for all universities
209that meet the criteria for Funding Level 1 under s. 1004.635(3),
210and may establish a uniform maximum undergraduate tuition
211differential that does not exceed 30 percent of tuition for all
212universities that have total research and development
213expenditures for all fields of at least $100 million per year as
214reported annually to the National Science Foundation. Once these
215criteria have been met and the differential established by the
216Board of Governors, the board of trustees of a qualified
217university may maintain the differential unless otherwise
218directed by the Board of Governors. However, the board shall
219ensure that the maximum tuition differential it establishes for
220universities meeting the Funding Level 1 criteria is at least 30
221percent greater than the maximum tuition differential the board
222establishes for universities that meet the required criteria for
223research and development expenditures. The tuition differential
224is subject to the following conditions:
225     (a)  The sum of tuition and the tuition differential may
226not be increased by more than 15 percent of the total charged
227for these fees in the preceding fiscal year.
228     (b)  The tuition differential may not be calculated as a
229part of the scholarship programs established in ss. 1009.53-
2301009.537.
231     (c)  Beneficiaries having prepaid tuition contracts
232pursuant to s. 1009.98(2)(b) which were in effect on July 1,
2332007, and which remain in effect, are exempt from the payment of
234the tuition differential.
235     (d)  The tuition differential may not be charged to any
236student who was in attendance at the university before July 1,
2372007, and who maintains continuous enrollment.
238     (e)  The tuition differential may be waived by the
239university for students who meet the eligibility requirements
240for the Florida public student assistance grant established in
241s. 1009.50.
242     (f)  A university board of trustees that has been
243authorized by the Board of Governors to establish a tuition
244differential pursuant to this subsection may establish the
245tuition differential at a rate lower than the maximum tuition
246differential established by the board, but may not exceed the
247maximum tuition differential established by the board.
248     (g)  The revenue generated from the tuition differential
249must be spent solely for improving the quality of direct
250undergraduate instruction and support services.
251     (h)  Information relating to the annual receipt and
252expenditure of the proceeds from the assessment of the tuition
253differential shall be reported by the university in accordance
254with guidelines established by the Board of Governors.
255     Section 4.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2009.


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