Florida CIE Meeting Dates & Application Deadlines

To open a college in Florida, you submit a complete Florida CIE new school application — the Provisional License Application plus fee forms, program outlines, faculty documentation, compliance checklists, a Form 605 business plan, and a Form 606 budget — to the Commission for Independent Education. Staff reviews it within 30 days, notifies you of any deficiencies, and once complete, presents it to the Commission at a scheduled meeting for approval or denial. The full process normally takes 4–6 months from submission. See our complete Florida state approval guide.

The Commission meets every other month — six meetings per year, typically in late January, March, May, July, September, and November. Some meetings are in person at Florida venues and others are virtual via Zoom. The current schedule is in the calendar above, sourced from the official FLDOE CIE calendar.

New-institution applications are due roughly five months before the Commission meeting at which they will be heard. All other applications — program additions, location changes, and actions requiring Commission review — are due roughly four months before. The exact date for each meeting is published in the CIE calendar and shown in the table above.

Your application rolls to the next Commission meeting cycle — typically a two-month delay at minimum, and up to five or more months if the year's deadlines have passed. Remember that an institution may not advertise, recruit students, accept tuition, or hold classes until the printed Provisional License is received, so a missed deadline directly delays your launch and revenue.

Fourteen official forms: the Provisional License Application, three fee forms (application, student protection, and criminal justice background), program outlines for degree and non-degree programs, the personnel form, faculty listing, four compliance checklists (catalog, enrollment agreement, refund policy, finances), the Form 605 business plan, and the Form 606 budget. All are linked in the toolkit above, directly from the official Florida Department of Education source.

The Commission's review process normally takes 4–6 months after you submit a complete application. End to end — from concept through entity formation, curriculum, staffing, and licensing — Expert Education Consultants has taken founders from zero to a CIE provisional license in as little as 8 months (Florida Tech University) and 11 months (Florida Coastal University).

Licensing (state authorization) is the legal permission to operate as a postsecondary institution in a specific state — in Florida, issued by the Commission for Independent Education. Accreditation is voluntary external quality validation by a recognized accreditor (DEAC, ACCSC, SACSCOC, and others) that unlocks Title IV federal financial aid eligibility. You must be licensed before you can pursue institutional accreditation. Learn more about our accreditation services.

Yes. International founders and investors can own and operate a licensed postsecondary institution in Florida. The CIE process adds some considerations — background screening for controlling principals, financial documentation for non-Florida corporations — but Expert Education Consultants has guided many international founders through the Florida CIE new school application successfully.