Florida Senate - 2025                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SB 1624
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì112218ÆÎ112218                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: RCS            .                                
                  04/01/2025           .                                
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       The Appropriations Committee on Higher Education (Calatayud)
       recommended the following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete lines 741 - 858
    4  and insert:
    5         Section 17. Paragraph (c) of subsection (8) of section
    6  1009.23, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
    7         1009.23 Florida College System institution student fees.—
    8         (8)(c) Up to 25 percent or $600,000, whichever is greater,
    9  of the financial aid fees collected may be used to assist
   10  students who demonstrate academic merit; who participate in
   11  athletics, public service, cultural arts, and other
   12  extracurricular programs as determined by the institution; or
   13  who are identified as members of an underrepresented a targeted
   14  gender or ethnic minority population. The financial aid fee
   15  revenues allocated for athletic scholarships and any fee
   16  exemptions provided to athletes pursuant to s. 1009.25(2) must
   17  be distributed equitably as required by s. 1000.05(3)(d). A
   18  minimum of 75 percent of the balance of these funds for new
   19  awards shall be used to provide financial aid based on absolute
   20  need, and the remainder of the funds shall be used for academic
   21  merit purposes and other purposes approved by the boards of
   22  trustees. Such other purposes shall include the payment of child
   23  care fees for students with financial need. The State Board of
   24  Education shall develop criteria for making financial aid
   25  awards. Each college shall report annually to the Department of
   26  Education on the revenue collected pursuant to this paragraph,
   27  the amount carried forward, the criteria used to make awards,
   28  the amount and number of awards for each criterion, and a
   29  delineation of the distribution of such awards. The report shall
   30  include an assessment by category of the financial need of every
   31  student who receives an award, regardless of the purpose for
   32  which the award is received. Awards that are based on financial
   33  need shall be distributed in accordance with a nationally
   34  recognized system of need analysis approved by the State Board
   35  of Education. An award for academic merit requires a minimum
   36  overall grade point average of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale or the
   37  equivalent for both initial receipt of the award and renewal of
   38  the award.
   39         Section 18. Paragraphs (a) and (c) of subsection (20) of
   40  section 1009.26, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
   41         1009.26 Fee waivers.—
   42         (20)(a) Beginning with the 2022-2023 academic year, a state
   43  university shall waive the out-of-state fee for a student who:
   44         1. Has a grandparent who has established a domicile in this
   45  state pursuant to s. 222.17 for at least 5 years preceding an
   46  application for the fee waiver is a legal resident as defined in
   47  s. 1009.21(1). For purposes of this subsection, the term
   48  “grandparent” means a person who has a legal relationship to a
   49  student’s parent as the natural or adoptive parent or legal
   50  guardian of the student’s parent.
   51         2. Earns a high school diploma comparable to a Florida
   52  standard high school diploma, or its equivalent, or completes a
   53  home education program.
   54         3.a. Achieves an SAT combined score no lower than the 89th
   55  national percentile on the SAT;
   56         b. Achieves an ACT score concordant to the required SAT
   57  score in sub-subparagraph a., using the latest published
   58  national concordance table developed jointly by the College
   59  Board and ACT, Inc.; or
   60         c. If a state university accepts the Classic Learning Test
   61  (CLT) for admission purposes, achieves a CLT score concordant to
   62  the required SAT score specified in sub-subparagraph a., using
   63  the latest published scoring comparison developed by Classic
   64  Learning Initiatives.
   65         4. Beginning with students who initially enroll in the 2022
   66  fall academic term and thereafter, enrolls as a full-time
   67  undergraduate student at a state university in the fall academic
   68  term immediately following high school graduation.
   69         (c) Before waiving the out-of-state fee, the state
   70  university shall require the student or the student’s parent, if
   71  the student is a dependent child, to provide a written
   72  declaration pursuant to s. 92.525(2) attesting to the student’s
   73  familial relationship to a grandparent who meets the residency
   74  requirement of subparagraph (a)1. is a legal resident and any
   75  other corroborating documentation required by regulation of the
   76  Board of Governors. A state university is not required to
   77  independently verify the statements contained in each
   78  declaration if the signatory declares it to be true under the
   79  penalties of perjury as required by s. 92.525(2). However, the
   80  state university may refer any signed declaration suspected of
   81  containing fraudulent representations to law enforcement.
   82  
   83  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
   84  And the title is amended as follows:
   85         Delete lines 65 - 77
   86  and insert:
   87         duties of the partnership; amending s. 1009.23, F.S.;
   88         authorizing the Florida College System to allocate a
   89         portion of financial aid fees to assist
   90         underrepresented students, rather than students who
   91         are members of a targeted gender or ethnic minority
   92         population; amending s. 1009.26, F.S.; revising the
   93         residency requirement for a grandparent for an out-of
   94         state fee waiver; revising the residency criteria for
   95         a grandparent in a specified attestation;