CS/HB 7051 2022
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb7051-01-c1
Page 1 of 12
F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to postsecondary education; amending 2
s. 1004.085, F.S.; providing requirements for lists of 3
required and recommended textbooks and instructional 4
materials for Florida College System institution and 5
state university courses; requiring specif ied course 6
syllabi information for certain courses to be included 7
in the course registration system beginning in certain 8
academic years; requiring such information to remain 9
posted for a specified time period; revising specified 10
reporting requirements for the board of trustees of 11
Florida College System institutions and state 12
universities; amending s. 1007.24, F.S.; revising the 13
maintenance requirements of and information that must 14
be included in the statewide course numbering system; 15
requiring certain posts econdary educational 16
institutions' registration processes to include 17
specified information; requiring certain postsecondary 18
educational institutions to accept and apply general 19
education courses and credit in a specified manner; 20
requiring the State Board o f Education to adopt rules; 21
providing requirements for the rules; creating s. 22
1008.47, F.S.; defining the term "postsecondary 23
education institution"; requiring the Board of 24
Governors and State Board of Education to identify and 25
CS/HB 7051 2022
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb7051-01-c1
Page 2 of 12
F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
determine accrediting agenci es or associations best 26
suited for state universities and Florida College 27
System institutions, respectively, by a date certain; 28
providing requirements for such accrediting agencies 29
or associations; prohibiting state universities and 30
Florida College System institutions from being 31
accredited by the same agency or association for 32
consecutive accreditation cycles; requiring state 33
universities and Florida College System institutions 34
to obtain accreditation from accrediting agencies or 35
associations identified by the Board of Governors or 36
State Board of Education, respectively; providing that 37
specified academic programs are exempt from such 38
requirements; creating a cause of action for 39
postsecondary education institutions; authorizing the 40
award of specified damages, court costs, and attorney 41
fees; providing for the future expiration of the 42
section; amending ss. 1009.23 and 1009.24, F.S.; 43
requiring Florida College System institutions and 44
state universities, respectively, to post specified 45
information relating to tuiti on and fee rates on their 46
websites; revising the information that must be 47
included in a required notice to students; requiring a 48
specific press release to be e -mailed to enrolled 49
students; providing requirements for a Florida College 50
CS/HB 7051 2022
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb7051-01-c1
Page 3 of 12
F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
System institution or state university, respectively, 51
to raise, impose, or authorize certain fees; providing 52
a directive to the Division of Law Revision; providing 53
effective dates. 54
55
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 56
57
Section 1. Subsections (5) an d (7) of section 1004.085, 58
Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 59
1004.085 Textbook and instructional materials 60
affordability and transparency.— 61
(5)(a) Each Florida College System institution and state 62
university shall post prominently in the course re gistration 63
system and on its website , as early as is feasible, but at least 64
45 days before the first day of class for each term, a hyperlink 65
to lists of required and recommended textbooks and instructional 66
materials for at least 95 percent of all courses a nd course 67
sections offered at the institution during the upcoming term. 68
The lists must include the International Standard Book Number 69
(ISBN) for each required and recommended textbook and 70
instructional material or other identifying information, which 71
must include, at a minimum, all of the following: the title, all 72
authors listed, publishers, edition number, copyright date, 73
published date, and other relevant information necessary to 74
identify the specific textbooks or instructional materials 75
CS/HB 7051 2022
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb7051-01-c1
Page 4 of 12
F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
required and recommended for each course. The State Board of 76
Education and the Board of Governors shall include in the 77
policies, procedures, and guidelines adopted under subsection 78
(6) certain limited exceptions to this notification requirement 79
for classes added after the notification deadline. 80
(b) The lists of required and recommended textbooks and 81
instructional materials required in paragraph (a) must: 82
1. Be posted as early as is feasible, but at least 45 days 83
before the first day of class for each term, for at least 95 84
percent of all courses and course sections offered at the 85
institution during the upcoming term. 86
2. Remain posted for at least 4 academic years. 87
3. Be searchable by academic term, department, course 88
number, course section, the name of the instructor of the 89
course, and International Standard Book Number (ISBN). 90
4. Be easily printed or downloadable by current and 91
prospective students for their registered courses or search 92
results. 93
(c) Beginning with the 2022 -2023 academic year for general 94
education core course options identified pursuant to s. 1007.25, 95
and by the 2024-2025 academic year for all upper -level courses 96
required as part of a degree program, course syllabi containing 97
sufficient detail to inform students of all of the following 98
must be included in the course registration system and remain 99
posted for at least 4 academic years: 100
CS/HB 7051 2022
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb7051-01-c1
Page 5 of 12
F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
1. The course curriculum. 101
2. The goals, objectives, and student expectations of the 102
course. 103
3. How student performance will be measured. 104
(7) The board of trustees of each Florida College System 105
institution and state university shall report, by September 30 106
of each year, to the Chancellor of the Florida College System or 107
the Chancellor of the State University System, as applicable, 108
the textbook and instructional materials selection process for 109
high-enrollment courses; specific initiatives of the institution 110
designed to reduce the costs of textbooks and instructional 111
materials; policies implemented in accordance with subsection 112
(5); the number of courses and course sections that were not 113
able to meet the textbook and instructional materials and course 114
syllabi posting deadline for the previous academic year; and any 115
additional information determined by the chancellors. By 116
November 1 of each yea r, each chancellor shall provide a summary 117
of the information provided by institutions to the State Board 118
of Education and the Board of Governors, as applicable. 119
Section 2. Subsection (8) of section 1007.24, Florida 120
Statutes, is renumbered as subsectio n (9), subsections (4), (5), 121
and present subsection (8) are amended, and a new subsection (8) 122
is added to that section, to read: 123
1007.24 Statewide course numbering system. — 124
CS/HB 7051 2022
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb7051-01-c1
Page 6 of 12
F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
(4) The statewide course numbering system must be shall 125
maintained electronical ly and regularly updated by the 126
department, and include the courses at the recommended levels , 127
course numbers, course titles, credits awarded, and other 128
identifiable information by institution and academic year, as 129
required by state board rule . 130
(5) The registration process at each state university and 131
Florida College System institution shall include the courses at 132
their designated levels , and statewide course numbers , course 133
titles, credits awarded, and other identifiable information , as 134
required by state board rule. 135
(8) Participating postsecondary institutions receiving 136
transfer course credit must accept and apply general education 137
courses and credit in accordance with this section, s. 1007.25, 138
and other provisions of law, including credit earned throug h 139
dual enrollment, course equivalencies, and other acceleration 140
mechanisms, as first satisfying general education core course 141
credit requirements and other general education subject area 142
course credit requirements before applying the course credit as 143
elective credit. 144
(9)(8) The State Board of Education shall adopt rules that 145
provide for the collection of course information from 146
participating institutions, identifiable information required 147
for each course, and the conduct of regularly scheduled faculty 148
CS/HB 7051 2022
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb7051-01-c1
Page 7 of 12
F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
committee reviews and recommendations. At a minimum, rules must 149
address all of the following: 150
(a) Required institutional reporting formats, timelines, 151
and procedures for the timely and uniform collection and 152
publication of course data information. 153
(b) Regularly scheduled faculty committee reviews and 154
recommendations to the commissioner for the alignment or 155
realignment of courses, course numbers, course titles, 156
designated levels, credits awarded, and other identifiable 157
information for the purpose of facilita ting credit transfer and 158
acceptance for substantially similar courses at receiving 159
institutions. 160
(c) Regularly scheduled faculty committee reviews and 161
recommendations to the commissioner for the classification or 162
reclassification of courses as satisfying general education, 163
general education core, prerequisite, substitution, equivalency, 164
civic literacy, or other course types, pursuant to s. 1007.25, 165
consistent with subject area, course content, programmatic, and 166
other requirements outlined in rule. 167
(d) Purges of courses that are listed in the statewide 168
course numbering system but have not been taught at an 169
institution for the preceding 5 years. These rules must include 170
waiver provisions that allow course continuation if an 171
institution has reasonable ca use for having not offered a course 172
CS/HB 7051 2022
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb7051-01-c1
Page 8 of 12
F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
within the 5-year limit and an expectation that the course will 173
be offered again within the following 5 years. 174
Section 3. Effective upon becoming a law, section 1008.47, 175
Florida Statutes, is created to read: 176
1008.47 Postsecondary education institution 177
accreditation.— 178
(1) DEFINITION.—As used in this section, the term 179
"postsecondary education institution" means a Florida College 180
System institution, state university, or nonpublic postsecondary 181
education institution t hat receives state funds. 182
(2) ACCREDITATION.—By July 1, 2022, the Board of 183
Governors, for state universities, and the State Board of 184
Education, for Florida College System institutions, shall 185
identify and make a determination of the accrediting agencies o r 186
associations that are best suited to, respectively, serve as an 187
accreditor for state universities and Florida College System 188
institutions. Such accrediting agencies or associations must be 189
recognized by the database created and maintained by the United 190
States Department of Education. A state university or Florida 191
College System institution may not be accredited by the same 192
accrediting agency or association for consecutive accreditation 193
cycles. In the year following reaffirmation or fifth -year review 194
by their accrediting agencies or associations, each state 195
university or Florida College System institution must seek and 196
obtain accreditation from an accrediting agency or association 197
CS/HB 7051 2022
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb7051-01-c1
Page 9 of 12
F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
identified by the Board of Governors or State Board of 198
Education, respectivel y, before its next reaffirmation date. The 199
requirements of this subsection do not apply to those 200
professional, graduate, departmental, or certificate programs at 201
state universities or Florida College System institutions that 202
have specific accreditation req uirements or best practices, 203
including, but not limited to, law, pharmacy, engineering, or 204
other similarly situated educational programs. 205
(3) CAUSE OF ACTION. —A postsecondary education institution 206
negatively impacted by retaliatory action taken against t he 207
postsecondary education institution by an accrediting agency or 208
association may bring an action against the accrediting agency 209
or association in a court of competent jurisdiction and may 210
obtain liquidated damages up to the amount of federal financial 211
aid received by the postsecondary education institution, court 212
costs, and reasonable attorney fees. 213
(4) This section expires December 31, 2032. 214
Section 4. Subsection (20) of section 1009.23, Florida 215
Statutes, is amended, and subsection (21) is added to that 216
section, to read: 217
1009.23 Florida College System institution student fees. — 218
(20) All tuition and fees described in this section, and 219
any proposed changes to such tuition and fees, must be 220
prominently posted on the Florida College System instituti on's 221
website in an area that is transparent and easily accessible. 222
CS/HB 7051 2022
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb7051-01-c1
Page 10 of 12
F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
Each Florida College System institution shall publicly notice 223
and notify all enrolled students of any proposal to increase 224
tuition or fees at least 28 days before its consideration for a 225
vote taken at a board of trustees meeting. The notice must: 226
(a) Include the date and time of the meeting at which the 227
proposal will be considered. 228
(b) Specifically outline the details of existing tuition 229
and fees, including how such tuition and fees are expended, the 230
rationale and necessity for the proposed increase, and how the 231
funds from the proposed increase will be used. 232
(c) Be posted on the institution's website and issued in a 233
press release, which must also be enclosed in an email sent to 234
all enrolled students. 235
(21) Any proposal or action of a Florida College System 236
institution to raise, impose, or authorize any fee, as 237
authorized by law, except for tuition, must be approved by a 238
supermajority vote of the members of the board of trustees of 239
the institution, if approval by the board of trustees is 240
required by general law, and at least a supermajority vote of 241
the members of the State Board of Education, if approval by the 242
State Board of Education is required by general law, in order to 243
take effect. 244
Section 5. Subsection (20) of section 1009.24, Florida 245
Statutes, is amended, and subsection (21) is added to that 246
section, to read: 247
CS/HB 7051 2022
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb7051-01-c1
Page 11 of 12
F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
1009.24 State university student fees. — 248
(20) All tuition and fees described in this section, and 249
any proposed changes to such tuition and fees, must be 250
prominently posted on the state university's website in an area 251
that is transparent and easily accessible. Each state university 252
shall publicly notice and notify all enrolled students of any 253
proposal to change tuition or fees at least 28 days before its 254
consideration for a vote taken at a board of trustees meeting. 255
The notice must: 256
(a) Include the date and time of the meeting at which the 257
proposal will be considered. 258
(b) Specifically outline the details of existing tuition 259
and fees, including how such tuition and fees are expended, the 260
rationale and necessity for the proposed change, and how the 261
funds from the proposed change will be used. 262
(c) Be posted on the unive rsity's website and issued in a 263
press release, which must also be enclosed in an email sent to 264
all enrolled students . 265
(21) Pursuant to s. 7(e), Art. IX of the State 266
Constitution, any proposal or action of a constituent university 267
to raise, impose, or aut horize any fee, as authorized by law, 268
except for tuition, must be approved by at least nine 269
affirmative votes of the members of the board of trustees of the 270
constituent university, if approval by the board of trustees is 271
required by general law, and at lea st twelve affirmative votes 272
CS/HB 7051 2022
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb7051-01-c1
Page 12 of 12
F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
of the members of the Board of Governors, if approval by the 273
Board of Governors is required by general law, in order to take 274
effect. 275
Section 6. The Division of Law Revision shall prepare a 276
reviser's bill for the 2023 Regula r Session of the Legislature 277
to replace references to the phrases "the Southern Association 278
of Colleges and Schools," "the Commission on Colleges of the 279
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools," and "the Southern 280
Association of Colleges and Schools Co mmission on Colleges" 281
wherever they occur in Florida Statutes with the phrase "an 282
accrediting agency or association recognized by the database 283
created and maintained by the United States Department of 284
Education." 285
Section 7. Except as otherwise expressl y provided in this 286
act and except for this section, which shall take effect upon 287
this act becoming a law, this act shall take effect July 1, 288
2022. 289