Terms Used In Florida Statutes > Chapter 1005 > Part I - General Provisions

• Accreditation: means accredited status awarded to an institution by an accrediting agency or association that is recognized by the United States Department of Education and that has standards comparable to the minimum standards required to operate an educational institution at that level in this state. See Florida Statutes 1005.02
• Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
• Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
• Avocational: means a course or program the objective of which is not occupational but is only for personal enrichment or enjoyment. See Florida Statutes 1005.02
• Commission: means the Commission for Independent Education. See Florida Statutes 1005.02
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Degree: means any educational credential that is generally taken to signify satisfactory completion of the requirements of an undergraduate, graduate, academic, educational, or professional program of study or any honorary credential conferred for meritorious recognition. See Florida Statutes 1005.02
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Diploma: means a credential that is not a degree but is any of the following: a certificate, transcript, report, document, or title; a designation, mark, or appellation; or a series of letters, numbers, or words that generally are taken to signify satisfactory completion of the requirements of an educational or career program of study or training or course of study. See Florida Statutes 1005.02
• Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Governmental: means an institution provided, operated, and supported by a federal, state, or county government or any of its political subdivisions. See Florida Statutes 1005.02
• Independent postsecondary educational institution: means any postsecondary educational institution that operates in this state or makes application to operate in this state, and is not provided, operated, and supported by the State of Florida, its political subdivisions, or the Federal Government. See Florida Statutes 1005.02
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• License: means a certificate signifying that an independent postsecondary educational institution meets standards prescribed in statute or rule and is permitted to operate in this state. See Florida Statutes 1005.02
• Operating in this state: means any of the following:
  (a) Maintaining for any purpose related to offering a degree, diploma, or credit a physical location in this state, a mailing address in this state, a telephone or facsimile number in this state, or a mail forwarding service or telephone answering or relay service in this state or advertising any such presence; or
  (b) By any means or device, facilitating in this state any part of a scheme to offer a degree, diploma, or credit, or any activity connected with the administration, promotion, recruitment, placement, instruction, fee collection or receipt, or any other function of a purported independent postsecondary educational institution, other than periodic and customary contact with the institution's own alumni. See Florida Statutes 1005.02
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• person: includes individuals, children, firms, associations, joint adventures, partnerships, estates, trusts, business trusts, syndicates, fiduciaries, corporations, and all other groups or combinations. See Florida Statutes 1.01
• School: means any nonpublic postsecondary noncollegiate educational institution, association, corporation, person, partnership, or organization of any type which:
  (a) Offers to provide or provides any complete, or substantially complete, postsecondary program of instruction through the student's personal attendance; in the presence of an instructor; in a classroom, clinical, or other practicum setting; or through correspondence or other distance education;
  (b) Represents, directly or by implication, that the instruction will qualify the student for employment in an occupation for which a degree is not required in order to practice in this state;
  (c) Receives remuneration from the student or any other source based on the enrollment of a student or the number of students enrolled; or
  (d) Offers to award or awards a diploma, regardless of whether it conducts instruction or receives remuneration. See Florida Statutes 1005.02
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Transcript: A written, word-for-word record of what was said, either in a proceeding such as a trial or during some other conversation, as in a transcript of a hearing or oral deposition.
• university: means any incorporated postsecondary educational entity, and its additional locations, offering a substantially complete program that confers or offers to confer at least an associate degree requiring at least 15 semester hours or the equivalent of general education, or that furnishes or offers to furnish instruction leading toward, or prerequisite to, college credit. See Florida Statutes 1005.02
• veteran: means a person who served in the active military, naval, or air service and who was discharged or released under honorable conditions only or who later received an upgraded discharge under honorable conditions, notwithstanding any action by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs on individuals discharged or released with other than honorable discharges. See Florida Statutes 1.01
• writing: includes handwriting, printing, typewriting, and all other methods and means of forming letters and characters upon paper, stone, wood, or other materials. See Florida Statutes 1.01