240.417  Increased registration or tuition fees for funding financial aid program.--

(1)  Student registration or tuition fees at each state university and public community college shall include up to $4.68 per quarter, or $7.02 per semester, per full-time student, or the per-student credit hour equivalents of such amounts. The fees provided for by this section shall be adjusted from time to time, as necessary, to comply with the debt service coverage requirements of the student loan revenue bonds issued pursuant to s. 240.441. If the Division of Bond Finance of the State Board of Administration and the Commissioner of Education determine that such fees are no longer required as security for revenue bonds issued pursuant to ss. 240.439-240.463, moneys previously collected pursuant to this section which are held in escrow, after administrative expenses have been met and up to $150,000 has been used to establish a financial aid data processing system for the State University System incorporating the necessary features to meet the needs of all nine universities for application through disbursement processing, shall be reallocated to the generating institutions to be used for student financial aid programs, including, but not limited to, scholarships and grants for educational purposes. Upon such determination, such fees shall no longer be assessed and collected.

(2)  The Department of Education is authorized, in accordance with rules established by the State Board of Administration, to receive and administer grants and donations from any source and in its discretion to establish criteria, select recipients, and award scholarships and loans from the fees provided for by this section and to fix the interest rates and terms of repayment thereof.

History.--s. 8, ch. 71-372; s. 14, ch. 72-169; s. 70, ch. 72-221; s. 2, ch. 76-227; s. 1, ch. 78-233; s. 72, ch. 79-222; s. 1, ch. 82-127; s. 171, ch. 92-279; s. 55, ch. 92-326; s. 7, ch. 93-120.