Florida Senate - 2014                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SPB 7036
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì758994gÎ758994                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: FAV            .                                
                  02/18/2014           .                                
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    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete everything after the enacting clause
    4  and insert:
    5         Section 1. Paragraph (b) of subsection (4) and paragraph
    6  (b) of subsection (16) of section 1009.24, Florida Statutes, are
    7  amended to read:
    8         1009.24 State university student fees.—
    9         (4)
   10         (b) Beginning with the 2008-2009 fiscal year and each year
   11  thereafter, the resident undergraduate tuition per credit hour
   12  shall increase at the beginning of each fall semester at a rate
   13  equal to inflation, unless otherwise provided in the General
   14  Appropriations Act. If the rate is not provided in the General
   15  Appropriations Act The Office of Economic and Demographic
   16  Research shall report the rate of inflation to the President of
   17  the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the
   18  Governor, and the Board of Governors each year prior to March 1.
   19  For purposes of this paragraph, the rate of inflation shall be
   20  defined as the rate of the 12-month percentage change in the
   21  Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, U.S. City Average,
   22  All Items, or successor reports as reported by the United States
   23  Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, or its
   24  successor for December of the previous year. In the event the
   25  percentage change is negative, the resident undergraduate
   26  tuition shall remain at the same level as the prior fiscal year.
   27         (16) Each university board of trustees may establish a
   28  tuition differential for undergraduate courses upon receipt of
   29  approval from the Board of Governors. The tuition differential
   30  shall promote improvements in the quality of undergraduate
   31  education and shall provide financial aid to undergraduate
   32  students who exhibit financial need.
   33         (b) Each tuition differential is subject to the following
   34  conditions:
   35         1. The tuition differential may be assessed on one or more
   36  undergraduate courses or on all undergraduate courses at a state
   37  university.
   38         2. The tuition differential may vary by course or courses,
   39  campus or center location, and by institution. Each university
   40  board of trustees shall strive to maintain and increase
   41  enrollment in degree programs related to math, science, high
   42  technology, and other state or regional high-need fields when
   43  establishing tuition differentials by course.
   44         3. For each state university that has total research and
   45  development expenditures for all fields of at least $100 million
   46  per year as reported annually to the National Science
   47  Foundation, the aggregate sum of tuition and the tuition
   48  differential may not be increased by more than 6 15 percent of
   49  the total charged for the aggregate sum of these fees in the
   50  preceding fiscal year. For each state university that has total
   51  research and development expenditures for all fields of less
   52  than $100 million per year as reported annually to the National
   53  Science Foundation, the aggregate sum of tuition and the tuition
   54  differential may not be increased by more than 6 15 percent of
   55  the total charged for the aggregate sum of these fees in the
   56  preceding fiscal year.
   57         4. The aggregate sum of undergraduate tuition and fees per
   58  credit hour, including the tuition differential, may not exceed
   59  the national average of undergraduate tuition and fees at 4-year
   60  degree-granting public postsecondary educational institutions.
   61         5. The tuition differential shall not be included in any
   62  award under the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program
   63  established pursuant to ss. 1009.53-1009.538.
   64         6. Beneficiaries having prepaid tuition contracts pursuant
   65  to s. 1009.98(2)(b) which were in effect on July 1, 2007, and
   66  which remain in effect, are exempt from the payment of the
   67  tuition differential.
   68         7. The tuition differential may not be charged to any
   69  student who was in attendance at the university before July 1,
   70  2007, and who maintains continuous enrollment.
   71         8. The tuition differential may be waived by the university
   72  for students who meet the eligibility requirements for the
   73  Florida public student assistance grant established in s.
   74  1009.50.
   75         9. Subject to approval by the Board of Governors, the
   76  tuition differential authorized pursuant to this subsection may
   77  take effect with the 2009 fall term.
   78         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2014.
   79  
   80  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
   81  And the title is amended as follows:
   82         Delete everything before the enacting clause
   83  and insert:
   84                        A bill to be entitled                      
   85         An act relating to postsecondary education; amending
   86         s. 1009.24, F.S.; deleting a provision relating to the
   87         automatic rate of inflation increase in resident
   88         undergraduate tuition per credit hour at state
   89         universities; deleting a requirement that the Office
   90         of Economic and Demographic Research annually report
   91         the rate of inflation to the Governor, the
   92         Legislature, and the Board of Governors; deleting the
   93         definition of the term “rate of inflation”; lowering
   94         the annual percentage increase allowed in the
   95         aggregate sum of tuition and the tuition differential
   96         at state universities; providing an effective date.