House bill more lenient than Senate in graduation rate
TALLAHASSEE — A Florida House committee on Monday endorsed its version of a higher-education reform bill, including expanding Bright Futures scholarships and requiring state universities to begin using “block” tuition.
T h e b i l l ( HB 3 ) , s p o n - sored by Rep. Bryan Avila, R-Hialeah, is the House’s answer to Senate President Joe Negron’s effort (SB 2) to elevate Florida’s higher-education system by increasing scholarship opportunities, tightening performance standards for state colleges and universities, and encouraging more students to graduate on time. The Senate bill passed 35-1 in the first week of the legislative session.
The House and Senate bills are similar, but the House is taking a different direction on a number of issues.
Both bills would expand the top-level Bright Futures award for “academic scholars” to cover full tuition and fees for those students who qualify for the merit-based aid. It would also provide $300 for the fall and spring semesters for textbooks and other costs.
The Senate would expand the scholarship for “ac ademic scholars” to the summer semester, while Avila s a i d t he House wants t o expand summer support to all Bright Future recipients.
While agreeing with the Senate that the 12 state universities should have block tuition in place by the fall of 2018, the House would require “at a minimum” that the plans allow students to pay no tuition or fees for classes exceeding 15 credit hours per semester.
The House bill, which was approved in an 11-3 vote by the Post-Secondary Education Subcommittee, also would be a little more lenient in its graduation-rate perfor- mance standards for state colleges and universities.
The House would measure state colleges by graduating full-time students who finish their degrees or certificate programs within 150 percent of the normal completion time, which would be three years for a two-year associate degree. The colleges would get extra credit for students who complete their programs within 100 percent of the normal time.
The Senate wants to mea- sure university undergraduate programs on a four-year graduation basis.
The House also would use a four-year measure, but would add a six-year measure with weighting for fouryear graduations.
The House bill leaves out several programs in the Senate legislation, including a plan to reward top-performing graduate programs and a scholarship program for students from farmworker families.