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