Florida Senate - 2014                                    SB 1148
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Education
       
       
       
       
       
       581-01853-14                                          20141148__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to postsecondary education; amending
    3         s. 1009.24, F.S.; deleting a provision relating to the
    4         automatic rate of inflation increase in resident
    5         undergraduate tuition per credit hour at state
    6         universities; deleting a requirement that the Office
    7         of Economic and Demographic Research annually report
    8         the rate of inflation to the Governor, the
    9         Legislature, and the Board of Governors; deleting the
   10         definition of the term “rate of inflation”; lowering
   11         the annual percentage increase allowed in the
   12         aggregate sum of tuition and the tuition differential
   13         at state universities; providing an effective date.
   14          
   15  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   16  
   17         Section 1. Paragraph (b) of subsection (4) and paragraph
   18  (b) of subsection (16) of section 1009.24, Florida Statutes, are
   19  amended to read:
   20         1009.24 State university student fees.—
   21         (4)
   22         (b) Beginning with the 2008-2009 fiscal year and each year
   23  thereafter, the resident undergraduate tuition per credit hour
   24  shall increase at the beginning of each fall semester at a rate
   25  equal to inflation, unless otherwise provided in the General
   26  Appropriations Act. If the rate is not provided in the General
   27  Appropriations Act The Office of Economic and Demographic
   28  Research shall report the rate of inflation to the President of
   29  the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the
   30  Governor, and the Board of Governors each year prior to March 1.
   31  For purposes of this paragraph, the rate of inflation shall be
   32  defined as the rate of the 12-month percentage change in the
   33  Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, U.S. City Average,
   34  All Items, or successor reports as reported by the United States
   35  Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, or its
   36  successor for December of the previous year. In the event the
   37  percentage change is negative, the resident undergraduate
   38  tuition shall remain at the same level as the prior fiscal year.
   39         (16) Each university board of trustees may establish a
   40  tuition differential for undergraduate courses upon receipt of
   41  approval from the Board of Governors. The tuition differential
   42  shall promote improvements in the quality of undergraduate
   43  education and shall provide financial aid to undergraduate
   44  students who exhibit financial need.
   45         (b) Each tuition differential is subject to the following
   46  conditions:
   47         1. The tuition differential may be assessed on one or more
   48  undergraduate courses or on all undergraduate courses at a state
   49  university.
   50         2. The tuition differential may vary by course or courses,
   51  campus or center location, and by institution. Each university
   52  board of trustees shall strive to maintain and increase
   53  enrollment in degree programs related to math, science, high
   54  technology, and other state or regional high-need fields when
   55  establishing tuition differentials by course.
   56         3. For each state university that has total research and
   57  development expenditures for all fields of at least $100 million
   58  per year as reported annually to the National Science
   59  Foundation, the aggregate sum of tuition and the tuition
   60  differential may not be increased by more than 6 15 percent of
   61  the total charged for the aggregate sum of these fees in the
   62  preceding fiscal year. For each state university that has total
   63  research and development expenditures for all fields of less
   64  than $100 million per year as reported annually to the National
   65  Science Foundation, the aggregate sum of tuition and the tuition
   66  differential may not be increased by more than 6 15 percent of
   67  the total charged for the aggregate sum of these fees in the
   68  preceding fiscal year.
   69         4. The aggregate sum of undergraduate tuition and fees per
   70  credit hour, including the tuition differential, may not exceed
   71  the national average of undergraduate tuition and fees at 4-year
   72  degree-granting public postsecondary educational institutions.
   73         5. The tuition differential shall not be included in any
   74  award under the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program
   75  established pursuant to ss. 1009.53-1009.538.
   76         6. Beneficiaries having prepaid tuition contracts pursuant
   77  to s. 1009.98(2)(b) which were in effect on July 1, 2007, and
   78  which remain in effect, are exempt from the payment of the
   79  tuition differential.
   80         7. The tuition differential may not be charged to any
   81  student who was in attendance at the university before July 1,
   82  2007, and who maintains continuous enrollment.
   83         8. The tuition differential may be waived by the university
   84  for students who meet the eligibility requirements for the
   85  Florida public student assistance grant established in s.
   86  1009.50.
   87         9. Subject to approval by the Board of Governors, the
   88  tuition differential authorized pursuant to this subsection may
   89  take effect with the 2009 fall term.
   90         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2014.