Florida Senate - 2014 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. PCS (264136) for SB 1148
Ì411884>Î411884
LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Senate . House
Comm: RS .
03/28/2014 .
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following:
1 Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
2
3 Between lines 524 and 525
4 insert:
5 Section 9. Subsection (1) and paragraph (a) of subsection
6 (2) of section 1009.55, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
7 1009.55 Rosewood Family Scholarship Program.—
8 (1) There is created a Rosewood Family Scholarship Program
9 for the direct descendants of the Rosewood families, not to
10 exceed 50 25 scholarships per year.
11 (2) The Rosewood Family Scholarship Program shall be
12 administered by the Department of Education. The State Board of
13 Education shall adopt rules for administering this program which
14 shall at a minimum provide for the following:
15 (a) The annual award to a student shall be up to $6,100
16 $4,000 but should not exceed an amount in excess of tuition and
17 registration fees.
18 Section 10. Section 1009.893, Florida Statutes, is created
19 to read:
20 1009.893 Florida National Merit Scholar Incentive Program.—
21 (1) As used in this section, the term:
22 (a) “Department” means the Department of Education.
23 (b) “Incentive program” means the Florida National Merit
24 Scholar Incentive Program.
25 (2) The Florida National Merit Scholar Incentive Program is
26 created to reward any Florida high school graduate who receives
27 recognition as a National Merit Scholar or National Achievement
28 Scholar and who initially enrolls in the 2014-2015 academic
29 year, or later, in a degree program, certificate program, or
30 applied technology program at an eligible Florida public or
31 independent postsecondary educational institution.
32 (3) The department shall administer the incentive program
33 according to rules and procedures established by the State Board
34 of Education. The department shall advertise the availability of
35 the incentive program and notify students, teachers, parents,
36 certified school counselors, and principals or other relevant
37 school administrators of the criteria and application
38 procedures.
39 (4) In order to be eligible for an award under the
40 incentive program, a student must:
41 (a) Be a state resident as defined in s. 1009.40 and rules
42 of the State Board of Education.
43 (b) Earn a standard Florida high school diploma or its
44 equivalent pursuant to s. 1003.428, s. 1003.4281, s. 1003.4282,
45 or s. 1003.435 unless:
46 1. The student completes a home education program according
47 to s. 1002.41; or
48 2. The student earns a high school diploma from a non
49 Florida school while living with a parent or guardian who is on
50 military or public service assignment away from this state.
51 (c) Be accepted by and enroll in a Florida public or
52 independent postsecondary educational institution that meets the
53 eligibility requirements specified in s. 1009.533.
54 (d) Be enrolled for at least 6 semester credit hours or the
55 equivalent in quarter hours or clock hours.
56 (5)(a) An eligible student who is a National Merit Scholar
57 or National Achievement Scholar and who attends a public
58 postsecondary educational institution must receive an incentive
59 award equal to the institutional cost of attendance minus the
60 sum of the student’s Florida Bright Futures Scholarship and
61 National Merit Scholarship or National Achievement Scholarship.
62 (b) An eligible student who is a National Merit Scholar or
63 National Achievement Scholar and who attends an independent
64 postsecondary educational institution must receive an incentive
65 award equal to the highest cost of attendance at a Florida
66 public university, as reported by the Board of Governors of the
67 State University System, minus the sum of the student’s Florida
68 Bright Futures Scholarship and National Merit Scholarship or
69 National Achievement Scholarship.
70 (6)(a) To be eligible for a renewal award, a student must
71 meet the renewal requirements for the Florida Bright Futures
72 Scholarship Program set forth in s. 1009.532(1)(a) and for the
73 Florida Academic Scholars award set forth in s. 1009.534(3).
74 (b) A student may receive the incentive award for a maximum
75 of 100 percent of the number of credit hours required to
76 complete an associate degree program or a baccalaureate degree
77 program or receive an award for a maximum of 100 percent of the
78 credit hours or clock hours required to complete up to 90 credit
79 hours of a program that terminates in a career certificate.
80 (7) The department shall annually issue awards from the
81 incentive program. Before the registration period each semester,
82 the department shall transmit payment for each award to the
83 president or director of the postsecondary educational
84 institution, or his or her representative, except that the
85 department may withhold payment if the receiving institution
86 fails to report or to make refunds to the department as required
87 in this section.
88 (a) Each institution shall certify to the department the
89 eligibility status of each student to receive a disbursement
90 within 30 days before the end of its regular registration
91 period, inclusive of a drop and add period. An institution is
92 not required to reevaluate the student eligibility after the end
93 of the drop and add period.
94 (b) An institution that receives funds from the incentive
95 program must certify to the department the amount of funds
96 disbursed to each student and remit to the department any
97 undisbursed advances within 60 days after the end of regular
98 registration.
99 (c) If funds appropriated are not adequate to provide the
100 maximum allowable award to each eligible student, awards must be
101 prorated using the same percentage reduction.
102 (8) Funds from any award within the incentive program may
103 not be used to pay for remedial coursework or developmental
104 education.
105 (9) A student may use an award for a summer term if funds
106 are available and appropriated by the Legislature.
107 (10) Funds appropriated by the Legislature for the
108 incentive program awards may be deposited into the State Student
109 Financial Assistance Trust Fund. Notwithstanding s. 216.301 and
110 pursuant to s. 216.351, any balance in the trust fund at the end
111 of any fiscal year which has been allocated to the incentive
112 program must remain in the incentive program and shall be
113 available for carrying out the purposes of this section. The
114 department shall allocate funds to the appropriate institutions
115 and collect and maintain data regarding the incentive program
116 within the student financial assistance database as specified in
117 s. 1009.94.
118 (11) The State Board of Education shall adopt rules
119 necessary to administer this section.
120
121 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================
122 And the title is amended as follows:
123 Delete line 72
124 and insert:
125 at state universities; amending s. 1009.55, F.S.;
126 increasing the annual maximum number of scholarships
127 that may be awarded in the Rosewood Family Scholarship
128 Program; increasing the annual maximum award amount
129 per student; creating s. 1009.893, F.S.; creating the
130 Florida National Merit Scholar Incentive Program;
131 defining terms; providing the purpose of the incentive
132 program; requiring the Department of Education to
133 administer the incentive program, advertise the
134 availability of the incentive program, and notify
135 students, teachers, parents, and school administrators
136 about the incentive program’s criteria and application
137 procedures; providing eligibility requirements for the
138 incentive program; requiring certain students who are
139 National Merit Scholars or National Achievement
140 Scholars to receive certain incentive awards;
141 providing eligibility requirements to renew an award;
142 authorizing a student to receive an incentive award
143 for certain maximum percentage amounts of the number
144 of credit hours required to complete an associate
145 degree, a baccalaureate degree, or a career
146 certificate; requiring the department to issue awards
147 from the incentive program and to transmit payment for
148 each award; authorizing the department to withhold
149 payment under certain circumstances; requiring
150 institutions to certify to the department the
151 eligibility status of each student to receive a
152 disbursement of an award during a specified time;
153 requiring the institution to certify to the department
154 the disbursement amounts to each student and remit to
155 the department undisbursed funds; providing for
156 proration of funds; prohibiting use of funds for
157 remedial coursework or developmental education;
158 authorizing a student to use funds during the summer
159 term under certain circumstances; authorizing
160 incentive program funds appropriated by the
161 Legislature to be deposited in the State Student
162 Financial Assistance Trust Fund; providing for use of
163 any remaining balance of appropriated funds in the
164 trust fund; requiring the department to allocate funds
165 to appropriate institutions and collect and maintain
166 certain data regarding the incentive program;
167 requiring the State Board of Education to adopt rules;
168 providing for retroactive