| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship |
| 3 | Program; amending s. 1009.53, F.S.; revising provisions |
| 4 | relating to the refund by an educational institution to |
| 5 | the Department of Education of funds received for courses |
| 6 | dropped by students after the end of the drop and add |
| 7 | period; providing an exception from the prohibition |
| 8 | against the use of scholarship funds for certain courses; |
| 9 | requiring a student's written appeal for such exception; |
| 10 | amending s. 1009.532, F.S.; revising credit-hour |
| 11 | requirements for renewal of a scholarship; providing an |
| 12 | 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. Paragraph (a) of subsection (5) of section |
| 17 | 1009.53, Florida Statutes, is amended, and subsection (11) is |
| 18 | added to that section, to read: |
| 19 | 1009.53 Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program.-- |
| 20 | (5) The department shall issue awards from the scholarship |
| 21 | program annually. Annual awards may be for up to 45 semester |
| 22 | credit hours or the equivalent. Before the registration period |
| 23 | each semester, the department shall transmit payment for each |
| 24 | award to the president or director of the postsecondary |
| 25 | education institution, or his or her representative, except that |
| 26 | the department may withhold payment if the receiving institution |
| 27 | fails to report or to make refunds to the department as required |
| 28 | in this section. |
| 29 | (a) Within 30 days after the end of regular registration |
| 30 | each semester, the educational institution shall certify to the |
| 31 | department the eligibility status of each student who receives |
| 32 | an award. After the end of the drop and add period, an |
| 33 | institution is not required to reevaluate or revise a student's |
| 34 | eligibility status; however, an institution but must make a |
| 35 | refund to the department within 30 days after the end of the |
| 36 | semester of any funds received for courses dropped by students |
| 37 | after the end of the drop and add period unless a student has |
| 38 | been granted an exception by the department pursuant to |
| 39 | subsection (11) if a student who receives an award disbursement |
| 40 | terminates enrollment for any reason during an academic term and |
| 41 | a refund is permitted by the institution's refund policy. |
| 42 | (11) Funds for any scholarship within the Florida Bright |
| 43 | Futures Scholarship Program may not be used to pay for courses |
| 44 | dropped after the end of the drop and add period except as |
| 45 | otherwise provided in this subsection. A student who receives an |
| 46 | award under this program and subsequently drops one or more |
| 47 | courses, or withdraws from all courses, after the end of the |
| 48 | drop and add period due to verifiable illness or other emergency |
| 49 | may be granted an exception from this prohibition against use of |
| 50 | the scholarship funds unless the institution's policy is to |
| 51 | refund the cost of the courses. The student must make a written |
| 52 | appeal for such an exception to the institution. The appeal must |
| 53 | include a description and verification of the circumstances. |
| 54 | Verification of illness or other emergency may include, but not |
| 55 | be limited to, a physician's statement or the written statement |
| 56 | of a parent or institution official. The institution shall |
| 57 | recommend exceptions with necessary documentation to the |
| 58 | department. The department may accept or deny the institution's |
| 59 | recommendations for exception. |
| 60 | Section 2. Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section |
| 61 | 1009.532, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 62 | 1009.532 Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program; |
| 63 | student eligibility requirements for renewal awards.-- |
| 64 | (1) To be eligible to renew a scholarship from any of the |
| 65 | three types of scholarships under the Florida Bright Futures |
| 66 | Scholarship Program, a student must: |
| 67 | (a) Complete at least 24 12 semester credit hours or the |
| 68 | equivalent in the last academic year in which the student earned |
| 69 | a scholarship if the student was enrolled full time, or a |
| 70 | prorated number of credit hours as determined by the Department |
| 71 | of Education if the student was enrolled less than full time for |
| 72 | any part of the academic year. |
| 73 | Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2009. |