Florida Senate - 2009                                    SB 1364
       
       
       
       By Senator Pruitt
       
       
       
       
       28-01173-09                                           20091364__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to the Florida Bright Futures
    3         Scholarship Program; amending s. 1009.53, F.S.;
    4         revising provisions relating to the refund by an
    5         educational institution to the Department of Education
    6         of funds received for courses dropped by students
    7         after the end of the drop and add period; providing an
    8         exception from the prohibition against the use of
    9         scholarship funds for certain courses; requiring a
   10         student’s written appeal for such exception; amending
   11         s. 1009.532, F.S.; revising credit-hour requirements
   12         for renewal of a scholarship; providing an effective
   13         date.
   14         
   15  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   16         
   17         Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (5) of section
   18  1009.53, Florida Statutes, is amended, and subsection (11) is
   19  added to that section, to read:
   20         1009.53 Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program.—
   21         (5) The department shall issue awards from the scholarship
   22  program annually. Annual awards may be for up to 45 semester
   23  credit hours or the equivalent. Before the registration period
   24  each semester, the department shall transmit payment for each
   25  award to the president or director of the postsecondary
   26  education institution, or his or her representative, except that
   27  the department may withhold payment if the receiving institution
   28  fails to report or to make refunds to the department as required
   29  in this section.
   30         (a) Within 30 days after the end of regular registration
   31  each semester, the educational institution shall certify to the
   32  department the eligibility status of each student who receives
   33  an award. After the end of the drop and add period, an
   34  institution is not required to reevaluate or revise a student’s
   35  eligibility status; however, an institution but must make a
   36  refund to the department within 30 days after the end of the
   37  semester of any funds received for courses dropped by students
   38  after the end of the drop and add period unless a student has
   39  been granted an exception by the department pursuant to
   40  subsection (11) if a student who receives an award disbursement
   41  terminates enrollment for any reason during an academic term and
   42  a refund is permitted by the institution’s refund policy.
   43         (11) Funds for any scholarship within the Florida Bright
   44  Futures Scholarship Program may not be used to pay for courses
   45  dropped after the end of the drop and add period except as
   46  otherwise provided in this subsection. A student who receives an
   47  award under this program and subsequently drops one or more
   48  courses, or withdraws from all courses, after the end of the
   49  drop and add period due to verifiable illness or other emergency
   50  may be granted an exception from this prohibition against use of
   51  the scholarship funds unless the institution’s policy is to
   52  refund the cost of the courses. The student must make a written
   53  appeal for such an exception to the institution. The appeal must
   54  include a description and verification of the circumstances.
   55  Verification of illness or other emergency may include, but not
   56  be limited to, a physician’s statement or the written statement
   57  of a parent or institution official. The institution shall
   58  recommend exceptions with necessary documentation to the
   59  department. The department may accept or deny the institution’s
   60  recommendations for exception.
   61         Section 2. Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section
   62  1009.532, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
   63         1009.532 Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program;
   64  student eligibility requirements for renewal awards.—
   65         (1) To be eligible to renew a scholarship from any of the
   66  three types of scholarships under the Florida Bright Futures
   67  Scholarship Program, a student must:
   68         (a) Complete at least 24 12 semester credit hours or the
   69  equivalent in the last academic year in which the student earned
   70  a scholarship if the student was enrolled full time, or a
   71  prorated number of credit hours as determined by the Department
   72  of Education if the student was enrolled less than full time for
   73  any part of the academic year.
   74         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2009.