Bill Text: FL S0248 | 2010 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Tuition/Resident Status Determination [SPSC]

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2010-04-30 - Died in Committee on Higher Education [S0248 Detail]

Download: Florida-2010-S0248-Introduced.html

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Florida Senate - 2010                                     SB 248 
 
By Senator Wilson 
33-00098-10                                            2010248__ 
1                        A bill to be entitled 
2         An act relating to determination of resident status 
3         for tuition purposes; amending s. 1009.21, F.S.; 
4         revising definitions; providing conditions for 
5         reclassification as a resident for tuition purposes; 
6         requiring that evidence be provided relating to 
7         dependent status; revising obsolete provisions; 
8         providing additional categories within which students 
9         may be classified as residents for tuition purposes; 
10         limiting eligibility for state financial aid; 
11         providing an effective date. 
12 
13  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 
14 
15         Section 1. Subsections (1), (2), (3), and (10) of section 
16  1009.21, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 
17         1009.21 Determination of resident status for tuition 
18  purposes.—Students shall be classified as residents or 
19  nonresidents for the purpose of assessing tuition in community 
20  colleges and state universities. 
21         (1) As used in this section, the term: 
22         (a) “Dependent child” means any person, whether or not 
23  living with his or her parent, who is eligible to be claimed by 
24  his or her parent as a dependent under the federal income tax 
25  code and who receives at least 51 percent of the true cost-of 
26  living expenses from his or her parent, as defined by rules of 
27  the State Board of Education. 
28         (b) “Initial enrollment” means the first day of class at an 
29  institution of higher education. 
30         (c) “Institution of higher education” means any community 
31  college as defined in s. 1000.21(3) or state university as 
32  defined in s. 1000.21(6). 
33         (d) “Legal resident” or “resident” means a person who has 
34  maintained his or her residence in this state for the preceding 
35  year, has purchased a home which is occupied by him or her as 
36  his or her residence, or has established a domicile in this 
37  state pursuant to s. 222.17. 
38         (e) “Nonresident for tuition purposes” means a person who 
39  does not qualify for the in-state tuition rate. 
40         (f) “Parent” means the natural or adoptive parent or legal 
41  guardian of a dependent child. 
42         (g) “Resident for tuition purposes” means a person who 
43  qualifies as provided in this section for the in-state tuition 
44  rate. 
45         (2)(a) To qualify as a resident for tuition purposes: 
46         1. A person or, if that person is a dependent child, his or 
47  her parent or parents must have established legal residence in 
48  this state and must have maintained legal residence in this 
49  state for at least 12 consecutive months immediately before 
50  prior to his or her initial enrollment in an institution of 
51  higher education. 
52         2. Every applicant for admission to an institution of 
53  higher education shall be required to make a statement as to his 
54  or her length of residence in the state and, further, shall 
55  establish that his or her presence or, if the applicant is a 
56  dependent child, the presence of his or her parent or parents in 
57  the state currently is, and during the requisite 12-month 
58  qualifying period was, for the purpose of maintaining a bona 
59  fide domicile, rather than for the purpose of maintaining a mere 
60  temporary residence or abode incident to enrollment in an 
61  institution of higher education. 
62         (b) However, with respect to a dependent child living with 
63  an adult relative other than the child’s parent, such child may 
64  qualify as a resident for tuition purposes if the adult relative 
65  is a legal resident who has maintained legal residence in this 
66  state for at least 12 consecutive months immediately before 
67  prior to the child’s initial enrollment in an institution of 
68  higher education and if, provided the child has resided 
69  continuously with the such relative for the 5 years immediately 
70  before prior to the child’s initial enrollment in an institution 
71  of higher education, during which time the adult relative has 
72  exercised day-to-day care, supervision, and control of the 
73  child. 
74         (c) The legal residence of a dependent child whose parents 
75  are divorced, separated, or otherwise living apart will be 
76  deemed to be this state if either parent is a legal resident of 
77  this state, regardless of which parent is entitled to claim, and 
78  does in fact claim, the minor as a dependent pursuant to federal 
79  individual income tax provisions. 
80         (d) A person who is classified as a nonresident for tuition 
81  purposes may become eligible for reclassification as a resident 
82  for tuition purposes if that person or, if that person is a 
83  dependent child, his or her parent presents evidence that 
84  supports permanent residency in this state rather than temporary 
85  residency for the purpose of pursuing an education, such as 
86  documentation of full-time permanent employment for the previous 
87  12 months or the purchase of a home in this state and residence 
88  therein during the previous 12 months. If a person who is a 
89  dependent child and his or her parent move to this state while 
90  the child is a high school student and the child graduates from 
91  a high school in this state, the child may become eligible for 
92  reclassification as a resident for tuition purposes when the 
93  parent qualifies for permanent residency. However, an illegal 
94  immigrant who qualifies as a resident for tuition purposes under 
95  this paragraph is not eligible for state financial aid. 
96         (3)(a) A person may An individual shall not be classified 
97  as a resident for tuition purposes and is, thus, shall not be 
98  eligible to receive the in-state tuition rate until he or she 
99  has provided such evidence related to legal residence and its 
100  duration or, if the person that individual is a dependent child, 
101  evidence of his or her parent’s legal residence and its 
102  duration, as well as evidence confirming his or her status as a 
103  dependent child, as may be required by law and by officials of 
104  the institution of higher education from which he or she seeks 
105  the in-state tuition rate. 
106         (b) Except as otherwise provided in this section, evidence 
107  of legal residence and its duration shall include clear and 
108  convincing documentation that residency in this state was for a 
109  minimum of 12 consecutive months prior to a student’s initial 
110  enrollment in an institution of higher education. 
111         (c) Each institution of higher education shall 
112  affirmatively determine that an applicant who has been granted 
113  admission to that institution as a Florida resident meets the 
114  residency requirements of this section at the time of initial 
115  enrollment. The residency determination must be documented by 
116  the submission of written or electronic verification that 
117  includes two or more of the documents identified in this 
118  paragraph. No single piece of evidence shall be conclusive. 
119         1. The documents must include at least one of the 
120  following: 
121         a. A Florida voter’s registration card. 
122         b. A Florida driver’s license. 
123         c. A State of Florida identification card. 
124         d. A Florida vehicle registration. 
125         e. Proof of a permanent home in Florida which is occupied 
126  as a primary residence by the individual or by the individual’s 
127  parent if the individual is a dependent child. 
128         f. Proof of a homestead exemption in Florida. 
129         g. Transcripts from a Florida high school for multiple 
130  years if the Florida high school diploma or GED was earned 
131  within the last 12 months. 
132         h. Proof of permanent full-time employment in Florida for 
133  at least 30 hours per week for a 12-month period. 
134         2. The documents may include one or more of the following: 
135         a. A declaration of domicile in Florida. 
136         b. A Florida professional or occupational license. 
137         c. Florida incorporation. 
138         d. A document evidencing family ties in Florida. 
139         e. Proof of membership in a Florida-based charitable or 
140  professional organization. 
141         f. Any other documentation that supports the student’s 
142  request for resident status, including, but not limited to, 
143  utility bills and proof of 12 consecutive months of payments; a 
144  lease agreement and proof of 12 consecutive months of payments; 
145  or an official state, federal, or court document evidencing 
146  legal ties to Florida. 
147         (10) The following persons shall be classified as residents 
148  for tuition purposes: 
149         (a) Active duty members of the Armed Services of the United 
150  States residing or stationed in this state, their spouses, and 
151  dependent children, and active drilling members of the Florida 
152  National Guard. 
153         (b) Active duty members of the Armed Services of the United 
154  States and their spouses and dependents attending a public 
155  community college or state university within 50 miles of the 
156  military establishment where they are stationed, if such 
157  military establishment is within a county contiguous to Florida. 
158         (c) United States citizens living on the Isthmus of Panama, 
159  who have completed 12 consecutive months of college work at the 
160  Florida State University Panama Canal Branch, and their spouses 
161  and dependent children. 
162         (d) Full-time instructional and administrative personnel 
163  employed by state public schools and institutions of higher 
164  education and their spouses and dependent children. 
165         (e) Students from Latin America and the Caribbean who 
166  receive scholarships from the federal or state government. Any 
167  student classified pursuant to this paragraph shall attend, on a 
168  full-time basis, a Florida institution of higher education. 
169         (f) Southern Regional Education Board’s Academic Common 
170  Market graduate students attending Florida’s state universities. 
171         (g) Full-time employees of state agencies or political 
172  subdivisions of the state when the student fees are paid by the 
173  state agency or political subdivision for the purpose of job 
174  related law enforcement or corrections training. 
175         (h) McKnight Doctoral Fellows and Finalists who are United 
176  States citizens. 
177         (i) United States citizens living outside the United States 
178  who are teaching at a Department of Defense Dependent School or 
179  in an American International School and who enroll in a graduate 
180  level education program which leads to a Florida teaching 
181  certificate. 
182         (j) Active duty members of the Canadian military residing 
183  or stationed in this state under the North American Aerospace 
184  Defense Command Air Defense (NORAD) agreement, and their spouses 
185  and dependent children, attending a community college or state 
186  university within 50 miles of the military establishment where 
187  they are stationed. 
188         (k) Active duty members of a foreign nation’s military who 
189  are serving as liaison officers and are residing or stationed in 
190  this state, and their spouses and dependent children, attending 
191  a community college or state university within 50 miles of the 
192  military establishment where the foreign liaison officer is 
193  stationed. 
194         (l) Full-time employees of international multilateral 
195  organizations based in this state which are recognized by the 
196  United States Department of State and their spouses and 
197  dependent children. 
198         (m) A student, other than a nonimmigrant alien within the 
199  meaning of 8 U.S.C. s. 1001(a)(15), who meets the following 
200  criteria: 
201         1. Has resided in this state with a parent for at least 3 
202  consecutive years immediately preceding the date the student 
203  received a high school diploma or its equivalent. 
204         2. Has attended a high school in this state for at least 3 
205  consecutive school years during such time. 
206         3. Has filed an affidavit with the institution of higher 
207  education stating that the student has filed an application to 
208  legalize his or her immigration status or will file such 
209  application as soon as he or she is eligible to do so. 
210 
211  However, students who qualify under this paragraph are not 
212  eligible for state financial aid. 
213         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2010.