Current through Reg. 50, No. 187; September 24, 2024
(1) Purpose. The purpose of this rule is to
set forth the requirements related to tuition and fee exemptions, including lab
fees, and services for students who have been or are in foster care and
students experiencing homelessness.
(2) Definitions.
(a) "Campus coaching services" means the
services that institutions may provide in accordance with Section
409.1452(2),
F.S., to assist students in their successful completion of postsecondary
education and transition to independent living.
(b) "Institution" means a Florida College
System institution, school district career center authorized under Section
1001.44, F.S., and charter
technical career center authorized under Section
1002.34, F.S.
(c) "Liaison" means the institution's
employee or employees who are responsible for providing on-campus support for
students related to tuition and fee exemptions and related issues, as required
by Section 409.1452(1),
F.S., for institutions that have students exempt under Sections
1009.25(1)(c) and
(1)(e), F.S. and this rule.
(d) "Students experiencing homelessness"
means individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence.
This definition includes:
1. Individuals who
are sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing, economic
hardship, or a similar reason; are living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or
camping grounds due to the lack of alternative adequate accommodations; are
living in emergency or transitional shelters; or are abandoned in
hospitals;
2. Individuals who have
a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not designed
for or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for human
beings;
3. Individuals who are
living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing,
bus or train stations, or similar settings;
4. Migratory children who qualify as homeless
for the purposes of 42 U.S.C. Sections
11431-11435; and
5. Individuals who would otherwise meet this
definition but for their residence in college dormitory
housing.
(e) "Students
who have been or are in foster care" means students who were the subject of a
shelter proceeding, a dependency proceeding, or a termination of parental
rights proceeding and:
1. Who are or were in
out-of-home care at the time they reached eighteen (18) years of age;
2. Who were adopted from the Department of
Children and Families after May 5, 1997;
3. Who are, or were at the time of reaching
eighteen (18) years of age, placed in the custody of a relative or nonrelative
under Section 39.5085,
39.6221, or
39.6225, F.S.; or
4. Who after reaching fourteen (14) years of
age and thereafter spending at least eighteen (18) months in out-of-home care,
were reunited with his or her parent or parents who were the subject of the
dependency proceeding before they reached eighteen (18) years of age, including
students who were reunited under Section
39.8155,
F.S.
(3)
Exemption for students who have been or are in foster care. Each institution
must exempt eligible students who have been or are in foster care from the
payment of tuition and fees.
(a) Eligibility
determination and verification. The institution must verify eligibility and
maintain related documentation for each student in accordance with Sections
1009.25 and
409.1452, F.S. and this rule.
Once eligibility is verified, the institution may not make additional requests
for such documentation. Students under subparagraph (2)(e)4. must be eligible
for the Pell Grant, as determined by the Free Application for Federal Student
Aid and verified by the postsecondary institution.
(b) Tuition and Fees. Pursuant to Section
1009.25, F.S., students who meet
the eligibility requirements under subsection (3) are exempt from the payment
of tuition and fees, including lab fees and fees associated with enrollment in
applied academics for adult education instruction. The exemption remains valid
until the student reaches twenty-eight (28) years of age.
(4) Exemption for students experiencing
homelessness. Each institution must exempt students experiencing homelessness
from the payment of tuition and fees, including lab fees.
(a) Eligibility determination and
verification. The institution must verify eligibility and maintain related
documentation for each student in accordance with Sections
1009.25 and
409.1452, F.S., and this rule.
Once eligibility is verified, the institution may not make additional requests
for such documentation, unless the student informs the institution their
circumstances have changed, the institution receives conflicting information
regarding a change in the student's independence status, or if the student
reenrolls after discontinuing enrollment for twelve (12) consecutive months or
more.
(b) Required documentation.
Documentation must include Form FSH-1, Florida Student Homelessness
Verification for Tuition and Fees Exemption Purposes. Form FSH-1 (
http://www.flrules.org/Gateway/reference.asp?No=Ref-15263),
effective April 2023, is hereby incorporated by reference and made part of this
rule. Copies may be obtained from the Division of Florida Colleges, 325 West
Gaines Street, Tallahassee, Florida 32399.
(c) Individuals authorized to certify
eligibility. The following individuals are authorized to certify that students
meet eligibility under this paragraph. Once a determination that the student is
experiencing homelessness is made by one of the authorized individuals below,
no further action is needed. Such documentation of the student's circumstances
shall be considered adequate.
1. A designated
Florida school district's liaison for homeless children and youth;
2. A director of an emergency shelter program
funded by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, or the
director's designee;
3. A director
of a runaway or homeless youth basic center or transitional living program
funded by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, or the
director's designee;
4. A continuum
of care lead agency, or its designee;
5. A director of an emergency or transitional
shelter, street outreach program, homeless youth drop-in center, or other
program serving individuals who are experiencing homelessness, or the
director's designee;
6. The
director of a project supported by a Federal TRIO program or a Gaining Early
Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate program grant under
20 U.S.C. sections
1070a-11 through
1070a-18 and
1070a-21 through
1070a-28, or the director's
designee;
7. A financial aid
administrator at the current postsecondary institution; or
8. A financial aid administrator at another
institution who documented the student's circumstance in the same or a prior
award year.
(d)
Case-by-case determinations. If a student is unable to provide documentation
from any individual described in paragraph (4)(c), institutions must make a
case-by-case determination, which must be based on a written statement from, or
a documented interview with, the student that confirms that the student is an
unaccompanied homeless youth, or unaccompanied, at risk of homelessness, and
self-supporting; and made without regard to the reasons that the student is an
unaccompanied homeless youth, or unaccompanied, at risk of homelessness, and
self-supporting.
(e) Tuition and
fees. Pursuant to Section
1009.25, F.S., students who meet
the eligibility requirements under subsection (4) are exempt from the payment
of tuition and fees, including lab fees. The exemption remains valid until the
student informs the institution that the student's circumstances have changed
or the institution has specific conflicting information about the student's
independence and has informed the student of this
information.
(5)
Enrollment. A student receiving benefits under this rule must be enrolled
according to the customary rules and requirements of the institution
attended.
(6) Records retention.
For purposes of these exemptions, institutions must retain the documentation in
accordance with the Florida Department of State's General Records Schedule GS5
For Public Universities and Colleges, Item #89.
(7) Fraud. If fraud is suspected that a
student, employee, or other individual has misreported information or altered
documentation to fraudulently allow the student to obtain this tuition and fees
exemption, the individual must report his or her suspicions and provide any
evidence to the appropriate institutional authority.
(8) Reporting requirements. Pursuant to
Section 409.1452(3),
F.S., the Division of Florida Colleges and the Division of Career and Adult
Education are required to annually report specified data to the Department of
Children and Families. Florida College System Institutions and school district
career centers must maintain documentation and annually report in a format
prescribed by the Chancellor of the Division of Florida Colleges and the
Chancellor of the Division of Career and Adult Education, respectively, to the
Florida Department of Education the following:
(a) Liaisons. The number of staff members
acting as liaisons under Section
409.1452(1),
F.S., how the liaisons' contact information is communicated; and the location
of the liaisons' contact information on the institution's website.
(b) Student-progress data. The progress of
students served by the liaisons, including data on academic progress,
retention, financial aid status, and information required by the National Youth
in Transition Database.
(c) Value
of fee exemptions. The number and value of all fee exemptions granted
annually.
(d) Campus coaching
services. Whether the institution provides campus coaching services and other
support to exempt students who are attending the institution to promote his or
her successful completion of postsecondary education and transition to
independent living, and if so, the type of services and support
provided.
Rulemaking Authority
1001.02(1),
(6),
1009.25(1)(e)
FS. Law Implemented 1001.02(6)(e), (h),
(i),
1009.25,
1009.285
FS.
New 4-25-23.
