Florida Senate - 2009 SB 762
By Senator Pruitt
28-00910-09 2009762__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to state university tuition and fees;
3 amending s. 216.136, F.S.; requiring the Education
4 Estimating Conference to develop information relating
5 to the national average of tuition and fees; amending
6 s. 1009.01, F.S.; revising the definition of the term
7 “tuition differential”; amending s. 1009.24, F.S.;
8 revising provisions relating to the use of the student
9 financial aid fee; deleting obsolete provisions;
10 revising provisions relating to the establishment of a
11 tuition differential; providing requirements for the
12 assessment and expenditure of a tuition differential;
13 providing requirements for a university board of
14 trustees to submit a proposal to the Board of
15 Governors to implement a tuition differential;
16 requiring the Board of Governors' review and approval
17 of a proposal; requiring the Board of Governors to
18 report specified information annually to the
19 Legislature and the Governor; providing for
20 application; providing an effective date.
21
22 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
23
24 Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (4) of section
25 216.136, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
26 216.136 Consensus estimating conferences; duties and
27 principals.—
28 (4) EDUCATION ESTIMATING CONFERENCE.—
29 (a) The Education Estimating Conference shall develop such
30 official information relating to the state public and private
31 educational system, including forecasts of student enrollments,
32 the national average of tuition and fees at public postsecondary
33 educational institutions, the number of students qualified for
34 state financial aid programs and for the William L. Boyd, IV,
35 Florida Resident Access Grant Program and the appropriation
36 required to fund the full award amounts for each program, fixed
37 capital outlay needs, and Florida Education Finance Program
38 formula needs, as the conference determines is needed for the
39 state planning and budgeting system. The conference's initial
40 projections of enrollments in public schools shall be forwarded
41 by the conference to each school district no later than 2 months
42 prior to the start of the regular session of the Legislature.
43 Each school district may, in writing, request adjustments to the
44 initial projections. Any adjustment request shall be submitted
45 to the conference no later than 1 month prior to the start of
46 the regular session of the Legislature and shall be considered
47 by the principals of the conference. A school district may amend
48 its adjustment request, in writing, during the first 3 weeks of
49 the legislative session, and such amended adjustment request
50 shall be considered by the principals of the conference. For any
51 adjustment so requested, the district shall indicate and
52 explain, using definitions adopted by the conference, the
53 components of anticipated enrollment changes that correspond to
54 continuation of current programs with workload changes; program
55 improvement; program reduction or elimination; initiation of new
56 programs; and any other information that may be needed by the
57 Legislature. For public schools, the conference shall submit its
58 full-time equivalent student consensus estimate to the
59 Legislature no later than 1 month after the start of the regular
60 session of the Legislature. No conference estimate may be
61 changed without the agreement of the full conference.
62 Section 2. Subsection (3) of section 1009.01, Florida
63 Statutes, is amended to read:
64 1009.01 Definitions.—The term:
65 (3) “Tuition differential” means the supplemental fee
66 charged to a student for instruction provided by a public
67 university in this state pursuant to s. 1009.24(16).
68 Section 3. Subsections (7) and (16) of section 1009.24,
69 Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
70 1009.24 State university student fees.—
71 (7) A university board of trustees is authorized to collect
72 for financial aid purposes an amount not to exceed 5 percent of
73 the tuition and out-of-state fee. The revenues from fees are to
74 remain at each campus and replace existing financial aid fees.
75 Such funds shall be disbursed to students as quickly as
76 possible. A minimum of 75 percent of funds from the student
77 financial aid fee for new financial aid awards shall be used to
78 provide financial aid based on absolute need. A student who has
79 received an award prior to July 1, 1984, shall have his or her
80 eligibility assessed on the same criteria that were used at the
81 time of his or her original award. The Board of Governors shall
82 develop criteria for making financial aid awards. Each
83 university shall report annually to the Board of Governors and
84 the Department of Education on the revenue collected pursuant to
85 this subsection, the amount carried forward, the criteria used
86 to make awards, the amount and number of awards for each
87 criterion, and a delineation of the distribution of such awards.
88 The report shall include an assessment by category of the
89 financial need of every student who receives an award,
90 regardless of the purpose for which the award is received.
91 Awards which are based on financial need shall be distributed in
92 accordance with a nationally recognized system of need analysis
93 approved by the Board of Governors. An award for academic merit
94 shall require a minimum overall grade point average of 3.0 on a
95 4.0 scale or the equivalent for both initial receipt of the
96 award and renewal of the award.
97 (16) Each university board of trustees may establish a
98 tuition differential for undergraduate courses upon receipt of
99 approval from the Board of Governors. The tuition differential
100 shall promote improvements in the quality of undergraduate
101 education and shall provide financial aid to undergraduate
102 students who exhibit financial need.
103 (a) Seventy-percent of the revenues from the tuition
104 differential shall be expended for purposes of undergraduate
105 education, including, but not limited to, increasing course
106 offerings, improving graduation rates, increasing the percentage
107 of undergraduate students who are taught by faculty, decreasing
108 student-faculty ratios, providing salary increases for faculty
109 who have a history of excellent teaching in undergraduate
110 courses, improving the efficiency of the delivery of
111 undergraduate education through academic advisement and
112 counseling, and reducing the percentage of students who graduate
113 with excess hours. This expenditure for undergraduate education
114 may not be used to pay the salaries of graduate teaching
115 assistants. The remaining 30 percent of the revenues from the
116 tuition differential shall be expended to provide financial aid
117 to undergraduate students who exhibit financial need to meet the
118 cost of university attendance. This expenditure for need-based
119 financial aid shall not supplant the amount of need-based aid
120 provided to undergraduate students in the preceding fiscal year
121 from financial aid fee revenues or the direct appropriation for
122 financial assistance provided to state universities in the
123 General Appropriations Act.
124 (b) Each tuition differential is subject to the following
125 conditions:
126 1. The tuition differential may be assessed on one or more
127 undergraduate courses or on all undergraduate courses at a state
128 university.
129 2. The tuition differential may vary by course or courses,
130 campus or center location, and by institution.
131 3. The aggregate sum of tuition and the tuition
132 differential charged for a given course or courses may not be
133 increased by more than 15 percent of the total charged for the
134 aggregate sum of these fees in the same course or courses in the
135 preceding fiscal year.
136 4. The aggregate sum of undergraduate tuition and fees per
137 credit hour, including the tuition differential, may not exceed
138 the national average of undergraduate tuition and fees at 4-year
139 degree-granting public postsecondary educational institutions.
140 5. The tuition differential may not be calculated as a part
141 of the scholarship programs established in ss. 1009.53-1009.538.
142 6. Beneficiaries having prepaid tuition contracts pursuant
143 to s. 1009.98(2)(b) which were in effect on July 1, 2007, and
144 which remain in effect, are exempt from the payment of the
145 tuition differential.
146 7. The tuition differential may not be charged to any
147 student who was in attendance at the university before July 1,
148 2007, and who maintains continuous enrollment.
149 8. The tuition differential may be waived by the university
150 for students who meet the eligibility requirements for the
151 Florida public student assistance grant established in s.
152 1009.50.
153 9. Subject to approval by the Board of Governors, the
154 tuition differential authorized pursuant to this subsection may
155 take effect with the 2009 fall term.
156 (c) A university board of trustees may submit a proposal to
157 the Board of Governors to implement a tuition differential for
158 one or more undergraduate courses. At a minimum, the proposal
159 shall:
160 1. Identify the course or courses for which the tuition
161 differential will be assessed.
162 2. Indicate the amount that will be assessed for each
163 tuition differential proposed.
164 3. Indicate the purpose of the tuition differential.
165 4. Indicate how the revenues from the tuition differential
166 will be used.
167 5. Indicate how the university will monitor the success of
168 the tuition differential in achieving the purpose for which the
169 tuition differential is being assessed.
170 (d) The Board of Governors shall review each proposal and
171 advise the university board of trustees of approval of the
172 proposal, the need for additional information or revision to the
173 proposal, or denial of the proposal. The Board of Governors
174 shall establish a process for any university to revise a
175 proposal or appeal a decision of the board.
176 (e) The Board of Governors shall submit a report to the
177 President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of
178 Representatives, and the Governor describing the implementation
179 of the provisions of this subsection no later than January 1,
180 2010, and no later than January 1 each year thereafter. The
181 report shall summarize proposals received by the board during
182 the preceding fiscal year and actions taken by the board in
183 response to such proposals. In addition, the report shall
184 provide the following information for each university that has
185 been approved by the board to assess a tuition differential:
186 1. The course or courses for which the tuition differential
187 was assessed and the amount assessed.
188 2. The total revenues generated by the tuition
189 differential.
190 3. With respect to waivers authorized under subparagraph
191 (b)8., the number of students eligible for a waiver, the number
192 of students receiving a waiver, and the value of waivers
193 provided.
194 4. Detailed expenditures of the revenues generated by the
195 tuition differential.
196 5. Changes in retention rates, graduation rates, the
197 percentage of students graduating with more than 110 percent of
198 the hours required for graduation, pass rates on licensure
199 examinations, the number of undergraduate course offerings, the
200 percentage of undergraduate students who are taught by faculty,
201 student-faculty ratios, and the average salaries of faculty who
202 teach undergraduate courses.
203 (f) No state university shall be required to lower any
204 tuition differential that was approved by the Board of Governors
205 and in effect prior to January 1, 2009, in order to comply with
206 the provisions of this subsection. The Board of Governors may
207 establish a uniform maximum undergraduate tuition differential
208 that does not exceed 40 percent of tuition for all universities
209 that meet the criteria for Funding Level 1 under s. 1004.635(3),
210 and may establish a uniform maximum undergraduate tuition
211 differential that does not exceed 30 percent of tuition for all
212 universities that have total research and development
213 expenditures for all fields of at least $100 million per year as
214 reported annually to the National Science Foundation. Once these
215 criteria have been met and the differential established by the
216 Board of Governors, the board of trustees of a qualified
217 university may maintain the differential unless otherwise
218 directed by the Board of Governors. However, the board shall
219 ensure that the maximum tuition differential it establishes for
220 universities meeting the Funding Level 1 criteria is at least 30
221 percent greater than the maximum tuition differential the board
222 establishes for universities that meet the required criteria for
223 research and development expenditures. The tuition differential
224 is subject to the following conditions:
225 (a) The sum of tuition and the tuition differential may not
226 be increased by more than 15 percent of the total charged for
227 these fees in the preceding fiscal year.
228 (b) The tuition differential may not be calculated as a
229 part of the scholarship programs established in ss. 1009.53
230 1009.537.
231 (c) Beneficiaries having prepaid tuition contracts pursuant
232 to s. 1009.98(2)(b) which were in effect on July 1, 2007, and
233 which remain in effect, are exempt from the payment of the
234 tuition differential.
235 (d) The tuition differential may not be charged to any
236 student who was in attendance at the university before July 1,
237 2007, and who maintains continuous enrollment.
238 (e) The tuition differential may be waived by the
239 university for students who meet the eligibility requirements
240 for the Florida public student assistance grant established in
241 s. 1009.50.
242 (f) A university board of trustees that has been authorized
243 by the Board of Governors to establish a tuition differential
244 pursuant to this subsection may establish the tuition
245 differential at a rate lower than the maximum tuition
246 differential established by the board, but may not exceed the
247 maximum tuition differential established by the board.
248 (g) The revenue generated from the tuition differential
249 must be spent solely for improving the quality of direct
250 undergraduate instruction and support services.
251 (h) Information relating to the annual receipt and
252 expenditure of the proceeds from the assessment of the tuition
253 differential shall be reported by the university in accordance
254 with guidelines established by the Board of Governors.
255 Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2009.