HB 1417 2025
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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 the First in Your Family Florida 2
Medical School Scholarship and Grant Program; creating 3
s. 1009.899, F.S.; establishing the First in Your 4
Family Florida Medical School Scholarship and Grant 5
Program within the Department of Education for 6
specified purposes; requiring the department to award 7
scholarships to certain students enrolled in specified 8
schools or programs; providing req uirements for such 9
scholarships; requiring the department to establish 10
specified criteria for the program; authorizing the 11
department to provide grants to certain postsecondary 12
educational institutions or nonprofit organizations to 13
create and implement non traditional mentoring services 14
or support programs for specified purposes; providing 15
a maximum grant amount through the program; providing 16
an appropriation; providing an effective date. 17
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WHEREAS, Florida’s population is growing and, according to 19
the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government 20
Accountability, there will be an anticipated shortfall of 18,000 21
physicians by 2035, and 22
WHEREAS, the Office of Program Policy Analysis and 23
Government Accountability spent more than a year collecting data 24
related to the state’s graduate medical education programs and 25
HB 1417 2025
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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
concluded that “Florida’s physician workforce is inadequate to 26
meet projected demand,” and 27
WHEREAS, the Office of Program Policy Analysis and 28
Government Accountability reported that the shortag e of 29
physicians in this state could affect citizen s' access to health 30
care if current trends persist, with a supply of physicians to 31
meet only 77 percent of the projected demand for physicians in 32
Florida by 2035, and 33
WHEREAS, there were some 835,000 pract icing doctors in 34
American in 2023, according to the United States Bureau of Labor 35
Statistics, and the United States is currently experiencing a 36
shortage of practicing doctors because demand exceeds supply, 37
NOW THEREFORE, 38
39
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 40
41
Section 1. Section 1009.899, Florida Statutes, is created 42
to read: 43
1009.899 The First in Your Family Florida Medical School 44
Scholarship and Grant Program. — 45
(1) There is established the First in Your Family Florida 46
Medical School Scholarship and Grant Program to be administered 47
by the Department of Education to provide scholarships to 48
students who are the first in their families to be enrolled in 49
an in-state or out-of-state accredited medical school or 50
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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
approved physician as sistant program and to create 51
nontraditional mentoring services or support programs for 52
certain students. 53
(2) The department shall award scholarships to students 54
who are the first in their families to be enrolled in an in-55
state or out-of-state accredited medical school or approved 56
physician assistant program that will lead to licensure under 57
chapter 458 or chapter 459. The scholarship amount shall be 58
determined by the department. Priority shall be given to 59
students who are enrolled in an accredited medica l school in the 60
state and who graduated from a public or private postsecondary 61
educational institution in the state in the last 5 years. The 62
department shall establish criteria for the program, which must 63
include: 64
(a) Student eligibility criteria, includ ing, but not 65
limited to, requirement s that the applicant: 66
1. Be the first in his or her fami ly to be enrolled in an 67
in-state or out-of-state accredited medical school or approved 68
physician assistant program . 69
2. Be a United States citizen. 70
(b) Program and scholarship award requirements, including, 71
but not limited to, that: 72
1. Awards must be income -based for students whose annual 73
household income is less than $150,000 . 74
2. Two-thirds of the scholarships that are available and 75
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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
awarded through the prog ram must be to students who are enrolled 76
in an in-state medical school or physician assistant program at 77
a public postsecondary educational institution. 78
3. One-third of the scholarships that are available and 79
awarded through the program must be to studen ts who are enrolled 80
in an out-of-state medical school or physician assistant program 81
at a public or private postsecondary educational institution. 82
4. Preference shall be given to students enrolled at in-83
state accredited medical schools and approved physician 84
assistant programs at public educational institution s. 85
5. Scholarship award funds shall be dispersed as follows: 86
a. Fifty percent of the total scholarship award shall be 87
paid after September 1 of each year when the enrollment of the 88
student has been verified. 89
b. Twenty five percent of the total scholarship award 90
shall be paid in January of each year. 91
c. Twenty five percent of the total scholarship award 92
shall be paid in June of each year . 93
6. A scholarship may be awarded and renewed for a total of 94
4 years, based upon proof of enrollment or continued enrollment 95
in an accredited medical school or approved physician assistant 96
program. 97
7. A student receiving an award through the program may 98
use up to $5,000 of the scholarship for emergency funds for 99
students experiencing an emergency or a financial crisis, 100
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including, but not limited to, issues relating to a student's 101
car, housing, and health care. 102
8. A student receiving an award through the program may 103
use up to $2,500 of the scholarship for fees, kits, coats, 104
clothing, medical bag, blood pressure kits, drug testing, or 105
disability insurance. 106
(3) The department may award grants to public 107
postsecondary educational institutions or nonprofit 108
organizations under s . 501(c)(3) of the United States Internal 109
Revenue Code to create and implement nontraditional mentoring 110
services or support programs to assist students who are enrolled 111
in an accredited medical school or approved physician assistant 112
program at a public educational institution in the state. A 113
grant awarded under this subsection may not exceed $100,000. 114
Section 2. For the 2025-2026 fiscal year, and each fiscal 115
year thereafter, the sum of $ 10,000,000 in recurring funds is 116
appropriated from the General Reve nue Fund to the Department of 117
Education for the purpose of implementing the First in Your 118
Family Florida Medical School Scholarship and Grant Program. 119
Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025. 120