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
HB 1019 2024
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to nonpublic religious postsecondary
3 educational institutions; amending s. 1005.06, F.S.;
4 removing religious colleges from the list of
5 institutions specified as not being under the
6 jurisdiction or purview of the Commission for
7 Independent Education; creating s. 1005.12, F.S.;
8 providing requirements that must be met by nonpublic
9 religious postsecondary educational institutions that
10 operate without being licensed by the commission;
11 requiring such institutions to provide a sworn
12 affidavit with specified information to the
13 commission; requiring the commission to provide such
14 institutions annually with a written notice of
15 exemption from licensure and of compliance; providing
16 methods for verifying such compliance; authorizing a
17 religious nongovernmental education association to
18 cooperate with the commission to determine whether a
19 nonpublic religious postsecondary educational
20 institution is in compliance; providing requirements
21 for such associations; requiring the commission to
22 send a specified notice to nonpublic religious
23 postsecondary educational institutions under certain
24 circumstances; providing that noncompliant
25 institutions must apply for a license or cease
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26 operations within a specified timeframe; requiring
27 that the employee or agent of the noncompliant
28 institution who produced the sworn affidavit be
29 subject to criminal penalties under certain
30 circumstances; authorizing the commission to take
31 action for noncompliance if certain conditions are
32 met; amending ss. 553.865, 1005.03, 1005.04, 1005.21,
33 and 1005.31, F.S.; conforming cross-references;
34 providing an effective date.
35
36 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
37
38 Section 1. Paragraphs (f) of subsection (1) of section
39 1005.06, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
40 1005.06 Institutions not under the jurisdiction or purview
41 of the commission.—
42 (1) Except as otherwise provided in law, the following
43 institutions are not under the jurisdiction or purview of the
44 commission and are not required to obtain licensure:
45 (f) A religious college may operate without governmental
46 oversight if the college annually verifies by sworn affidavit to
47 the commission that:
48 1. The name of the institution includes a religious
49 modifier or the name of a religious patriarch, saint, person, or
50 symbol of the church.
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51 2. The institution offers only educational programs that
52 prepare students for religious vocations as ministers,
53 professionals, or laypersons in the categories of ministry,
54 counseling, theology, education, administration, music, fine
55 arts, media communications, or social work.
56 3. The titles of degrees issued by the institution cannot
57 be confused with secular degree titles. For this purpose, each
58 degree title must include a religious modifier that immediately
59 precedes, or is included within, any of the following degrees:
60 Associate of Arts, Associate of Science, Bachelor of Arts,
61 Bachelor of Science, Master of Arts, Master of Science, Doctor
62 of Philosophy, and Doctor of Education. The religious modifier
63 must be placed on the title line of the degree, on the
64 transcript, and whenever the title of the degree appears in
65 official school documents or publications.
66 4. The duration of all degree programs offered by the
67 institution is consistent with the standards of the commission.
68 5. The institution's consumer practices are consistent
69 with those required by s. 1005.04.
70
71 The commission may provide such a religious institution a letter
72 stating that the institution has met the requirements of state
73 law and is not subject to governmental oversight.
74 Section 2. Section 1005.12, Florida Statutes, is created
75 to read:
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76 1005.12 Nonpublic religious postsecondary educational
77 institutions.—
78 (1) Nonpublic religious postsecondary educational
79 institutions, such as religious colleges, operating under this
80 section without licensure are required to meet two or more of
81 the following criteria:
82 (a) Be incorporated in this state.
83 (b) Be a limited liability company in this state.
84 (c) Be under a domestic or foreign corporation registered
85 in this state.
86 (d) Be a ministry under an entity with an Internal Revenue
87 Service taxpayer identification number.
88 (e) Be tax exempt under s. 501(c)(3) of the Internal
89 Revenue Code.
90 (f) Be registered under a fictitious name in this state
91 under one of the entities specified in paragraphs (a) -(e).
92 (2) A nonpublic religious postsecondary educational
93 institution may operate exempt from licensure in this state if
94 the institution annually provides to the commission by sworn
95 affidavit, either electronically or in print, all of the
96 following information or affirmations:
97 (a) The name of the institution, which must include a
98 religious modifier or the name of a religious patriarch, saint,
99 person, or symbol of the church.
100 (b) That the institution offers only educational programs
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101 that prepare students for religious vocations as ministers,
102 professionals, or laypersons in the categories of ministry,
103 counseling, theology, education, administration, business,
104 accounting, finance, music, fine arts, media, social work, or
105 communications.
106 (c) The titles of any of the following degrees conferred
107 by the institution, which must include a religious modifier on
108 the title line of the degree, on the transcript, and whenever
109 the title of the degree appears in the institution's official
110 documents or publications:
111 1. Associate of Arts.
112 2. Associate of Science.
113 3. Bachelor of Arts.
114 4. Bachelor of Science.
115 5. Master of Arts.
116 6. Master of Science.
117 7. Doctor of Philosophy.
118 8. Doctor of Education.
119 (d) That the duration of all degree programs offered by
120 the institution is consistent with the standards of the
121 commission.
122 (e) That the institution's consumer practices are
123 consistent with those required by s. 1005.04.
124 (3) The commission shall annually provide the nonpublic
125 religious postsecondary educational institution with a written
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126 notice stating that the institution is exempt from licensure and
127 has complied with the requirements of this section. The written
128 notice from the previous year remains effective until the
129 commission's workload permits its appropriate adjudication of a
130 subsequent year's affidavit submitted by the institution.
131 (4) Verification of the nonpublic religious postsecondary
132 educational institution's compliance with this section may be
133 accomplished by one of the following methods:
134 (a) A finding of compliance by the commission after the
135 institution submits the required documentation in print or
136 electronically.
137 (b) A finding of compliance by a religious nongovernmental
138 education association based in this state which the commission
139 may cooperate with pursuant to s. 1005.22(1)(g) to administer
140 its duties under this section. In order to issue a finding of
141 compliance, a religious nongovernmental education association
142 approved by the commission must:
143 1. Operate in this state and require its members to reside
144 in this state.
145 2. Ensure that its members are trained by the association
146 to verify compliance under this section.
147 3. Have a review team composed of at least three members,
148 of which no more than two members may derive income from the
149 same institution as one another.
150 4. Prohibit a member of the review team from deriving
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151 income from the institution being reviewed.
152 5. Annually submit to the commission, on behalf of the
153 institution being reviewed, an affidavit designating the
154 association as the institution's agent to represent it before
155 the commission and a written notice from the association's
156 review team affirming the institution's compliance with this
157 section.
158 (5) If a nonpublic religious postsecondary educational
159 institution has received from the commission a written notice of
160 compliance with this section and exemption from licensure, and
161 the institution subsequently fails to comply, the commission
162 must send the institution a notice of noncompliance, and the
163 institution must do one of the following:
164 (a) Apply for a license pursuant to s. 1005.31(1)(a)
165 within 45 days after issuance of the notice.
166 (b) Cease operating in this state within 45 days after
167 issuance of the notice.
168 (6) If the institution does not take the specified actions
169 pursuant to subsection (5), the employee or agent of the
170 institution who produced the sworn affidavit is subject to the
171 penalties provided in s. 837.012 for making a false statement on
172 a sworn affidavit.
173 (7) The commission may take action pursuant to subsection
174 (5) upon a finding of noncompliance by the institution, or upon
175 receiving written notices from two or more different
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176 institutions under this section that the institution in question
177 has failed to meet the requirements of this section.
178 Section 3. Paragraph (i) of subsection (3) of section
179 553.865, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
180 553.865 Private spaces.—
181 (3) As used in this section, the term:
182 (i) "Postsecondary educational institution or facility"
183 means:
184 1. A state university as defined in s. 1000.21(8);
185 2. A Florida College System institution as defined in s.
186 1000.21(5);
187 3. A school district career center as described in s.
188 1001.44(3);
189 4. A college or university licensed by the Commission for
190 Independent Education pursuant to s. 1005.31(1)(a); or
191 5. An institution not under the jurisdiction or purview of
192 the commission as identified in s. 1005.06(1) or s. 1005.12 s.
193 1005.06(1)(b)-(f).
194 Section 4. Paragraph (e) of subsection (1) of section
195 1005.03, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
196 1005.03 Designation "college" or "university."—
197 (1) The use of the designation "college" or "university"
198 in combination with any series of letters, numbers, or words is
199 restricted in this state to colleges or universities as defined
200 in s. 1005.02 that offer degrees as defined in s. 1005.02 and
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201 fall into at least one of the following categories:
202 (e) A college that meets the description of either s.
203 1005.06(1)(e) or s. 1005.12 (f).
204 Section 5. Subsection (1) of section 1005.04, Florida
205 Statutes, is amended to read:
206 1005.04 Fair consumer practices.—
207 (1) Every institution that is under the jurisdiction of
208 the commission or is exempt from the jurisdiction or purview of
209 the commission pursuant to s. 1005.06(1)(c) or s. 1005.12 (f)
210 and that either directly or indirectly solicits for enrollment
211 any student shall:
212 (a) Disclose to each prospective student a statement of
213 the purpose of such institution, its educational programs and
214 curricula, a description of its physical facilities, its status
215 regarding licensure, its fee schedule and policies regarding
216 retaining student fees if a student withdraws, and a statement
217 regarding the transferability of credits to and from other
218 institutions. The institution shall make the required
219 disclosures in writing at least 1 week prior to enrollment or
220 collection of any tuition from the prospective student. The
221 required disclosures may be made in the institution's current
222 catalog;
223