Florida SB 7038: Education

Bill Text

7038 
Education 
2026-02-25T05:40:09Z 
Requiring each Florida College System institution and state university to waive tuition and fees for members of the Florida State Guard if certain conditions are met; requiring entities that offer fee-based services to individuals who are blind or visually impaired to disclose in writing whether the service may be obtained elsewhere at no cost; authorizing school district career centers to use alternative methods adopted by the board in lieu of common placement tests to assess students in basic communication and computation skills; providing that a fee waiver only applies to a full-time undergraduate student, beginning with a specified academic year, etc. 
Committee Substitute 2 
2026 
S 
2026-07-01T00:00:00Z 
GB 
General Bill 
c2 

 Florida Senate - 2026 CS for CS for SB 7038 

 By the Committee on Rules; the Appropriations Committee on Pre-K 
 - 12 Education; and the Committee on Education Postsecondary 

 595-03175-26 20267038c2 
 1 A bill to be entitled 
 2 An act relating to education; amending s. 251.001, 
 3 F.S.; requiring each Florida College System 
 4 institution and state university to waive tuition and 
 5 fees for members of the Florida State Guard if certain 
 6 conditions are met; creating s. 413.0114, F.S.; 
 7 requiring entities that offer fee-based services to 
 8 individuals who are blind or visually impaired to 
 9 disclose in writing whether the service may be 
 10 obtained elsewhere at no cost; providing requirements 
 11 for the disclosure; authorizing the State Board of 
 12 Education to adopt rules; amending s. 413.208, F.S.; 
 13 requiring certain service providers to apply to, 
 14 rather than register with, the Division of Vocational 
 15 Rehabilitation; requiring the division to establish 
 16 minimum qualifications for service providers; 
 17 requiring the division to establish an annual 
 18 application period; authorizing the division to 
 19 approve or deny any service provider application; 
 20 providing that, as of a specified date, only certain 
 21 service providers may participate in the vocational 
 22 rehabilitation program; requiring the division to 
 23 develop and make publicly available a certain annual 
 24 report; requiring service providers to meet certain 
 25 standards to maintain approved status; requiring that 
 26 the rates for vocational rehabilitation services meet 
 27 certain criteria; amending s. 491.005, F.S.; revising 
 28 the date for a requirement to obtain a license as a 
 29 marriage and family therapist; amending s. 1001.7065, 
 30 F.S.; revising academic and research excellence 
 31 standards; amending s. 1001.92, F.S.; revising certain 
 32 performance-based metrics; amending s. 1003.437, F.S.; 
 33 requiring the State Board of Education to establish a 
 34 uniform weighted grading system for specified courses 
 35 and articulated acceleration mechanisms; requiring 
 36 district school boards to use the system for a 
 37 specified purpose; creating s. 1004.0983, F.S.; 
 38 requiring state universities and Florida College 
 39 System institutions to adopt and implement specified 
 40 policies and procedures relating to safety; specifying 
 41 requirements for such policies and procedures; 
 42 requiring state universities and Florida College 
 43 System institutions to annually review and update the 
 44 policies and procedures; authorizing the Board of 
 45 Governors and the State Board of Education to adopt 
 46 regulations and rules, respectively; amending s. 
 47 1005.06, F.S.; revising the list of institutions that 
 48 are not under the jurisdiction of the Commission for 
 49 Independent Education; amending s. 1007.25, F.S.; 
 50 revising the timeframe for Florida College System 
 51 institutions and state universities to submit comments 
 52 in response to a specified notice of intent; amending 
 53 s. 1007.271, F.S.; revising the list of postsecondary 
 54 institutions that are eligible to participate in a 
 55 dual enrollment program; amending s. 1008.30, F.S.; 
 56 deleting a requirement for the State Board of 
 57 Education to adopt rules; authorizing school district 
 58 career centers to use alternative methods adopted by 
 59 the board in lieu of common placement tests to assess 
 60 students in basic communication and computation 
 61 skills; authorizing Florida College System 
 62 institutions to request approval of institution 
 63 specific alternative methods; making conforming 
 64 changes; amending s. 1008.44, F.S.; deleting a 
 65 provision limiting how supplemental funding may be 
 66 earned for the CAPE Industry Certification Funding 
 67 List; amending s. 1008.47, F.S.; revising the 
 68 timeframe for a public postsecondary institution to 
 69 seek and obtain accreditation; amending s. 1009.21, 
 70 F.S.; providing that a person may not lose his or her 
 71 resident status for tuition purposes due to 
 72 incarceration; providing that a person may not lose 
 73 his or her resident