CS/HB 7125 - Postsecondary Access and Affordability

• Revises definitions for apprenticeship programs to expand supervisor qualifications beyond traditional journeyworkers, including mentors, technicians, and specialists with documented skills and experience.

• Excludes instructional materials and textbooks from online degree program tuition costs and requires institutions to identify and review courses with wide variances in textbook costs by semester.

• Establishes the Florida Apprenticeship Grant Program and Rapid Response Grant Program to fund creation and expansion of apprenticeship and high-demand postsecondary programs at career centers and colleges.

• Modifies tuition differential revenue allocation at state universities from 30/70 to 70/30 split, allocating 70 percent to undergraduate education quality improvements and 30 percent to need-based financial aid.

• Creates University System Performance-Based Incentive using graduation rates, retention, research expenditures, and patents as metrics to award or withhold institutional funding.

• Requires state universities and Florida College System institutions to provide 28-day advance public notice of tuition and fee increases.