By Kathleen Haughney
The News Service of Florida
Florida students will likely see a 15 percent jump on their tuition bills next school year, bringing the historically low tuition rates of the 11 universities more in line with other public universities around the country.
What hangs in the balance is a decision the Board of Governors must make over additional fee increases for some of the universities that could cause total bills to skyrocket.
The board is set to consider on June 18 tuition increases for the 11 universities. The Legislature has already approved a base tuition increase of 8 percent, but the universities are allowed to tack on an additional increase up to another 7 percent. All of the universities are asking for the full increase.
The increases, which are likely to be approved, would start to bring Florida tuition more in line with the rest of the country. Florida students have traditionally enjoyed low tuition rates compared to students in other states around the country.
According to the College Board, average published tuition and fees for in-state students at public flagship universities was $8,353 in 2009-2010. In contrast, the University of Florida’s in-state tuition and fees on the College Board survey were pegged at $4,373.
Tuition is only one part of a student’s overall bill and can often be covered by scholarships. But the fees charged for student activities, technology and other items can cause a semester bill to increase exponentially.
“What I hear from students on campus is we’re nickel and diming them on fees,” board member and University of North Florida professor Judith Solano said Wednesday.
Two months ago, the Legislature gave the board the power to approve new fees for students or increase the caps on already existing charges. The board, however, has not yet established any rules or regulations for new fees and hopes to do so before giving any university approval to enact them.
In a rushed scenario, the board could draft rules and regulations for a meeting next week and then hold additional meetings throughout the summer to give them a fair public hearing. This would allow universities to approve fee increases in August, right before students return to campus, though that is unlikely.
The time frame caused some concern among several board members who met Wednesday by telephone for a preliminary discussion on information that is to be discussed next week when the governors meet at the University of Central Florida.
“I think it’s patently unfair to be approving a fee sometime late July, early August that students and their parents won’t be aware of until right before they start classes,” Solano said.
Board Budget and Finance Committee Chair Tico Perez said he would like to put off making any decision on fees until rules and regulations can be developed over the next few months. That would mean that universities would likely have to wait another year before they could take advantage of the new law regarding the fees.
“Raising tuition, raising fees is no light matter,” Perez said.
Six of the universities have already drafted proposals, however, regarding new fees that they hoped to have considered at the UCF meeting. Florida Atlantic University, Florida International University, New College of Florida, University of North Florida, University of South Florida and University of West Florida have all developed plans for new student charges.
Board members said they would still encourage universities to present information about the fee increases during the board meeting. Before the Friday meeting, the board will hear presentations from all 11 universities on their work plans and needs for tuition and fee increases.