| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship |
| 3 | Program; amending s. 1009.53, F.S.; revising provisions |
| 4 | relating to a refund to the Department of Education of |
| 5 | funds received by a postsecondary educational institution |
| 6 | for certain courses; prohibiting the use of funds for |
| 7 | certain purposes; requiring the department and |
| 8 | institutions to notify students of certain information; |
| 9 | amending s. 1009.532, F.S.; revising credit-hour |
| 10 | requirements for renewal of a scholarship; providing for |
| 11 | restoration of eligibility; requiring the department and |
| 12 | institutions to notify students of certain information; |
| 13 | providing an effective date. |
| 14 |
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| 15 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 16 |
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| 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 or courses from which |
| 39 | students withdraw after the end of the drop and add period |
| 40 | unless a student has dropped or withdrawn from the course due to |
| 41 | a verifiable illness or other documented emergency if a student |
| 42 | who receives an award disbursement terminates enrollment for any |
| 43 | reason during an academic term and a refund is permitted by the |
| 44 | institution's refund policy. |
| 45 | (11) Funds for any scholarship within the Florida Bright |
| 46 | Futures Scholarship Program may not be used to pay for courses |
| 47 | dropped after the end of the drop and add period or courses from |
| 48 | which students withdraw after the end of the drop and add period |
| 49 | except as otherwise provided in this section. The department |
| 50 | shall notify eligible recipients of the provisions of this |
| 51 | subsection. Each institution shall notify award recipients of |
| 52 | the provisions of this subsection during the registration |
| 53 | process. |
| 54 | Section 2. Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section |
| 55 | 1009.532, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 56 | 1009.532 Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program; |
| 57 | student eligibility requirements for renewal awards.-- |
| 58 | (1) To be eligible to renew a scholarship from any of the |
| 59 | three types of scholarships under the Florida Bright Futures |
| 60 | Scholarship Program, a student must: |
| 61 | (a) Effective with students funded in the 2009-2010 |
| 62 | academic year and thereafter, earn complete at least 24 12 |
| 63 | semester credit hours or the equivalent in the last academic |
| 64 | year in which the student earned a scholarship if the student |
| 65 | was enrolled full time or earn a prorated number of credit hours |
| 66 | as determined by the Department of Education if the student was |
| 67 | enrolled less than full time for any part of the academic year. |
| 68 | If a student fails to earn the minimum number of hours required |
| 69 | to renew the scholarship, the student shall lose his or her |
| 70 | eligibility for renewal for a period equivalent to one academic |
| 71 | year. The student is eligible to restore the award the following |
| 72 | academic year if the student earns the hours for which the |
| 73 | student was enrolled at the level defined by the department and |
| 74 | meets the grade point average for renewal. A student is eligible |
| 75 | for such a restoration one time. The department shall notify |
| 76 | eligible recipients of the requirements of this paragraph. Each |
| 77 | institution shall notify award recipients of the requirements of |
| 78 | this paragraph during the registration process. |
| 79 | Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2009. |