The Florida Senate

¹240.4097  Florida Postsecondary Student Assistance Grant Program; eligibility for grants.--

(1)  There is hereby created a Florida Postsecondary Student Assistance Grant Program. The program shall be administered by the participating institutions in accordance with rules of the state board.

(2)(a)  Florida postsecondary student assistance grants through the State Student Financial Assistance Trust Fund may be made only to full-time degree-seeking students who meet the general requirements for student eligibility as provided in s. 240.404, except as otherwise provided in this section. Such grants shall be awarded for the amount of demonstrated unmet need for tuition and fees and may not exceed an amount equal to the average prior academic year cost of matriculation and other registration fees for 30 credit hours at state universities plus $1,000 per academic year, or as specified in the General Appropriations Act, to any applicant. A demonstrated unmet need of less than $200 shall render the applicant ineligible for a Florida postsecondary student assistance grant. Recipients of such grants must have been accepted at a postsecondary institution that is located in the state and that is:

1.  A private nursing diploma school approved by the Florida Board of Nursing; or

2.  An institution either licensed by the State Board of Independent Colleges and Universities or exempt from licensure pursuant to s. 246.085(1)(a), excluding those institutions the students of which are eligible to receive a Florida private student assistance grant pursuant to s. 240.4095.

No student may receive an award for more than the equivalent of 9 semesters or 14 quarters of full-time enrollment, except as otherwise provided in s. 240.404(3).

(b)  A student applying for a Florida postsecondary student assistance grant shall be required to apply for the Pell Grant. The Pell Grant entitlement shall be considered when conducting an assessment of the financial resources available to each student.

(c)  Priority in the distribution of grant moneys shall be given to students with the lowest total family resources, in accordance with a nationally recognized system of need analysis. Using the system of need analysis, the department shall establish a maximum expected family contribution. An institution may not make a grant from this program to a student whose expected family contribution exceeds the level established by the department. An institution may not impose additional criteria to determine a student's eligibility to receive a grant award.

(d)  Each participating institution shall report, to the department by the established date, the eligible students to whom grant moneys are disbursed each academic term. Each institution shall also report to the department necessary demographic and eligibility data for such students.

(3)  Based on the unmet financial need of an eligible applicant, the amount of a Florida postsecondary student assistance grant must be between $200 and the average cost of matriculation and other registration fees for 30 credit hours at state universities plus $1,000 per academic year or the amount specified in the General Appropriations Act.

(4)(a)  The funds appropriated for the Florida Postsecondary Student Assistance Grant shall be distributed to eligible institutions in accordance with a formula recommended by the Department of Education's Florida Council of Student Financial Aid Advisors and reviewed by the Postsecondary Education Planning Commission and the Florida Association of Postsecondary Schools and Colleges. The formula shall consider at least the prior year's distribution of funds, the number of full-time eligible applicants who did not receive awards, the standardization of the expected family contribution, and provisions for unused funds.

(b)  Payment of Florida postsecondary student assistance grants shall be transmitted to the president of the eligible institution, or to his or her representative, in advance of the registration period. Institutions shall notify students of the amount of their awards.

(c)  The eligibility status of each student to receive a disbursement shall be determined by each institution as of the end of its regular registration period, inclusive of a drop-add period. Institutions shall not be required to reevaluate a student's eligibility status after this date for purposes of changing eligibility determinations previously made.

(d)  Institutions shall certify to the department the amount of funds disbursed to each student and shall remit to the department any undisbursed advances by June 1 of each year.

(e)  Each institution that receives moneys through the Florida Postsecondary Student Assistance Grant Program shall cause to be prepared a biennial report that includes an independent external audit of the institution's administration of the program and a complete accounting of moneys in the State Student Financial Assistance Trust Fund allocated to the institution for the program. Such report shall be submitted to the department on or before March 1 every other year. The department may conduct its own annual or biennial audit of an institution's administration of the program and its allocated funds in lieu of the required biennial report and independent external audit. The department may suspend or revoke an institution's eligibility to receive future moneys from the trust fund for the program or request a refund of any moneys overpaid to the institution through the trust fund for the program if the department finds that an institution has not complied with the provisions of this section. Any refund requested pursuant to this paragraph shall be remitted within 60 days.

(5)  Any institution that was eligible to receive state student assistance grants on January 1, 1989, and that is not eligible to receive grants pursuant to s. 240.4095 is eligible to receive grants pursuant to this section.

(6)  Funds appropriated by the Legislature for Florida postsecondary student assistance grants shall be deposited in the State Student Financial Assistance Trust Fund. Notwithstanding the provisions of s. 216.301 and pursuant to s. 216.351, any balance in the trust fund at the end of any fiscal year that has been allocated to the Florida Postsecondary Student Assistance Grant Program shall remain therein and shall be available for carrying out the purposes of this section and as otherwise provided by law.

(7)  The State Board of Education shall adopt rules necessary to implement this section.

History.--s. 17, ch. 89-207; s. 5, ch. 89-367; s. 17, ch. 90-302; s. 24, ch. 91-55; s. 6, ch. 91-186; s. 16, ch. 92-321; s. 62, ch. 95-148; s. 17, ch. 95-376; s. 31, ch. 95-430; ss. 13, 48, ch. 98-421; s. 3(7), ch. 2000-321.

¹Note.--Repealed January 7, 2003, by s. 3(7), ch. 2000-321, and shall be reviewed by the Legislature prior to that date.