Students who take too many classes before they finish their bachelor degrees but graduate on time would get a financial break under a bill advanced Wednesday by a House member who also is a University of Central Florida student.
The House Post-Secondary Education Subcommittee endorsed Rep. Amber Mariano's bill (HB 153) that would let baccalaureate students accumulate excess credit hours but not face financial penalties if they graduate in four years.
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Additionally, students majoring in science, technology, engineering and mathematics would not face an excess-hours penalty if they are repeating STEM classes.
Mariano, who is finishing a political science degree at UCF, said the Florida Student Association told her approximately 2,000 university students had to pay excess-hours penalties --- which doubles tuition for extra classes --- in the 2015-16 academic year, even though they graduated in four years.
"We should be rewarding them not penalizing them," said Mariano, R-Hudson. "This would allow them, if they graduate on time, to not hit that surcharge."
Students must pay an excess-hours penalty if their credit hours exceed 110 percent of the normal credit hours for a degree, which typically would be 120 credit hours for a baccalaureate degree.
Sen. Travis Hutson, R-Elkton, is sponsoring a similar bill (SB 1462).