State: College tuition could jump 12.5%

TALLAHASSEE -- The Florida Board of Education on Tuesday recommended raising tuition next year at the state's public universities by up to 12.5 percent, the biggest increase in a decade.

It would be the eighth straight year Florida students have seen an increase in tuition and fees as the state continues to struggle with a tight budget and escalating enrollment.

The board endorsed Education Secretary Jim Horne's proposal that tuition at universities and community colleges rise 7.5 percent. Individual universities then could add another 5 percent.

University students would pay $3,027.38 per year, an increase of $336. Community college students could pay $1,639.38 per year, an increase of $114.

"It's too much of an increase in one year," said Pablo Paez, chairman of the Florida Student Association and student body president at Florida Atlantic University. "If that's going to happen, there's a possibility for tuition to skyrocket."

With little discussion, the board also endorsed other proposals that include tuition increases for the next 10 years and drastic cutbacks in financial aid that would make it more expensive for middle class students to attend state universities.

"There are finite resources," Horne said. "Something has to give and it begins to give here in higher education. Clearly we need to set course to shift some of the burden."

The tuition increases and other proposals must be approved by the state Legislature, which meets in March.

If approved, the recommendations would all but eliminate the popular Florida Prepaid College Plan, although existing contracts would be honored. Students also would be offered less money to pay for tuition through the lottery-funded Bright Future scholarships.

"I endorse the (Bright Futures and prepaid tuition) programs but I believe they must be adjusted going forward," board chairman Phil Handy said. "I think we clearly established these as the heart of our legislative agenda."

None of the recommendations suggest increasing the tax dollars devoted to higher education.

Florida students pay less than 25 percent of the cost of educating them, even though tuition has increased every year for the past seven years. Florida continues to have one of the lowest tuitions in the nation.

"We've gotten ourselves into a very awkward position," board member William Proctor said. "You could see this coming years ago."

The board accepted recommendations made by the Higher Education Funding Advisory Council, a group that spent a year studying how higher education is funded in Florida. The 19-member panel came up with the suggestions as a way to help the state with its growing budget crisis.

But it's unclear what will happen to the recommendations because of a pending change in university governance. Florida voters passed an amendment last month that shifts oversight of the state's universities to a new statewide board Jan. 7.

Other recommendations include:

Using at least 20 percent of tuition and fee increases to aid students in financial need.

Contributing a portion of Bright Futures money to need-based scholarships.

Considering opening new four-year universities to ease crowding and accommodate the growing number of people seeking admission.

But the biggest changes would occur in popular tuition programs: Bright Futures, which pays for all or most of tuition for about 120,000 students in Florida, and the Florida Prepaid College Plan, which allows people to pay for tuition and fees for a future college education at today's prices.

The group suggested giving individual public universities the authority to control their own tuition. That would essentially bankrupt the popular prepaid tuition program, because it doesn't anticipate such huge jumps in tuition.

No one spoke against the proposals but the Florida Prepaid College Board wrote a letter against the changes that it says would hurt the most popular prepaid program in the country.

The group also recommended using a new formula that would pay for some tuition for Bright Future scholarship recipients that could reduce the amount of money most university students receive by $500.

All current college students, and perhaps even all current high school students, still will receive their Bright Future scholarships.

"We're going to fight against this," said Mike Griffin, student body president at the University of South Florida. "My biggest concern is that we are going to lose our best and brightest students in our state."

Horne said Gov. Jeb Bush and others are interested in raising the standards for students who receive Bright Futures, but they have not examined that yet.

On Tuesday, Bush reaffirmed that the Bright Futures scholarship program and the prepaid scholarship program will be staying, but the programs might undergo changes. It's too soon to say, Bush said, but he is determined not to limit access to public education.

"Right now Floridians get the best deal in the country," he said.

-- Staff writer Steve Bousquet contributed to this report.

Bright Futures program changes

FLORIDA ACADEMIC SCHOLARS AWARD

No proposed change.

Requires a 3.5 GPA, 1270 SAT or 28 ACT, 75 hours community service.

State pays 100 percent of tuition and fees, lab fees up to $600 a year and $600 of other expenses.

FLORIDA MEDALLION SCHOLARS AWARD

Requires 3.0 GPA, 970 SAT or 20 ACT.

State now pays 75 percent of tuition and fees ($2,018 in 2002-03 for universities, and up to $600 lab fees).

Proposed change: Scholarship would pay $1,525, or $493.25 less each year for university students; $1,525 or $381.25 more each year for community college students.

-- Source: Florida Board of Education

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