<p>Prepaid Policyholders Would Be Exempt
From Paying Academic Enhancement Fee
Under Amended House Bill 905</p>
<p>Issue still pending in state Legislature</p>
<p>If you now have a tuition contract with the Florida Prepaid College Plan, you will not have to pay a proposed academic enhancement fee when your child goes to college under House Bill 905 as newly amended.</p>
<p>The Florida House Committee on Postsecondary Education overwhelmingly approved on March 27 an amended version of HB 905 that would exempt all current Florida Prepaid College Plan policyholders and the Florida Prepaid College Board from paying the proposed academic enhancement fee at the University of Florida now or at any time in the future. This mirrors the stand taken by the Florida Prepaid College Board in December on the academic enhancement fee. The bill limits the fee to University of Florida, which sought the fee with the endorsement of the Florida Board of Governors in order to hire 200 faculty members and 100 academic advisors.</p>
<p>Also under HB 905, the Florida Prepaid College Board would be able to sell future contracts to new prepaid tuition purchasers to cover the proposed academic enhancement fee.</p>
<p>The outcome of the proposed academic enhancement fee during the current legislative session will depend on further action in the Florida House of Representatives and in the Florida Senate.
Excerpts from further news coverage below:</p>
<p>March 28, 2007, Florida Times Union: King wary of UF $1,000 fee hike</p>
<p>Other provisions include: waivers for needy students that don't have Bright Futures scholarships; waivers for students with Florida Prepaid College contracts issued before July 1 of this year; and a fee cap of $500 per semester for new undergraduates entering fall 2012.</p>
<p>March 27, 2007, Tallahassee Democrat: House committee approves upping cost of UF by $500</p>
<p>The university could provide aid to needy students or waive the enhancement fee under some conditions. Families with existing contracts in the Florida
Prepaid College plan would be exempt and the plan will begin selling contracts to cover the added fee for new enrollees.</p>
<p>March 28, 2007, Gainesville Sun: Crist remains opposed to $1,000 UF fee hike</p>
<p>The changes address concerns from the state-run Florida Prepaid group that having to pay for the $1,000 fee would be unfair to families who bought contracts and would have cost the Prepaid group $300 million if it had been forced to pay the additional fee for current contract holders.</p>