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;