Schools

Crist okays tuition bump, wants a long-range plan

The governor tells leaders they need to create a less-piecemeal approach to education.

By STEVE BOUSQUET and BEN MONTGOMERY, Times Staff Writers
Published October 28, 2007

TALLAHASSEE - State university and community college students will have to pay a little more for school starting in January.

Gov. Charlie Crist signed into law a 5 percent tuition increase late Friday, ending his longstanding opposition to the upped cost. The new fee will cost university students about $55 more per semester.

Crist vetoed a similar tuition hike in May, saying it placed too high a burden on working families already struggling with insurance and property taxes.

Since then, university and community college presidents as well as students have lobbied the governor, a Florida State alumnus, to change his mind.

"Many students have told me that they want a quality education and they have said that they are willing to help pay for it," Crist wrote in a letter explaining his decision "The students made it clear, as I will today, that I expect 30 percent of the tuition increase to be directed to students who need additional financial aid to cover these added costs."

Crist also said he approved the increase because the Legislature next week will likely approve a property tax relief package, subject to voter approval, that he said will save Floridians money.

The tuition hike includes an automatic annual increase equal to the rise in the cost of living, and a technology fee equal to 5 percent of each student's tuition beginning with the 2009-2010 school year.

At the same time, Crist put legislators on notice that he wants to find a better way to operate Florida's higher education system.

"I want all concerned parties to understand that piecemeal approaches to our higher education are unacceptable to me," Crist wrote in the bill-signing letter.

He called on higher education leaders to help him and lawmakers develop a long-range plan to "ensure quality education and access" to students.

Ken Whiting, 20, a sociology major at the University of South Florida, said he wants to reap the benefits of the tuition increase if he's forced to cough up more money each semester.

"It's bothersome, but at the same time I expect to see some of it returned" in advancements on campus, said the junior who worked at Home Depot to pay for college. "I'm okay with it as long as they give it back."

But USF freshman Sommer Geck objected.

"They want to encourage our society to achieve wealth through education, but high tuition makes education out of reach for a lot of people," she said. "They don't make education easy."

Geck said an increase of $55 per semester might not seem like much, but for many strapped students it is.

"It's the principle of it," said the 18-year-old English and social studies major. "We're moving back into the Gilded Age."

Crist also approved more than $1-billion in cuts to programs by legislators in a special session earlier this month, and expressed strong reservations about some of their choices, especially in corrections, education and the environment.

One bill he signed, Crist said, cuts $30-million for projects to provide a sustainable water supply in Florida.

"We should, in tight budget times, concentrate on a comprehensive approach to a safe and adequate water supply for the citizens of Florida," Crist wrote.

Steve Bousquet can be reached at bousquet@sptimes.com or 850 224-7263.

[Last modified October 27, 2007, 23:41:08]