Florida’s 28 state and community colleges say they have a plan to make the state the first in the country to reach the national goal of doubling graduation rates by the year 2020 — and they think Gov. Rick Scott will back their play.
Valencia College President Sandy Shugart on Tuesday told the Florida Board of Education to expect a proposal in the fall.
Shugart said if approved, the four-year strategic plan would also make Florida the top-ranked college system for affordability, job placement, accountability and partnerships with high schools and universities.
The Florida College System, which formerly was the community-college system, will request a 35 percent increase in state funding to reach those goals.
Shugart and St. Petersburg College President Bill Law said they thought Scott would approve it since their plan had sprung from discussions with him.
“The budget that we got from the Legislature this year was for all practical purposes the same level that the governor originally proposed, without tuition increases,” Law said. “We would not have had to raise tuition.”
Scott opposes tuition increases. Shugart said the colleges also can make Florida first in affordability by tying tuition hikes to rises in the cost of living.
“There are still many in the state, in other sectors of higher education, who believe that it’s underpriced and that, at least in their sector, they need to continue to have aggressive tuition increases,” Shugart said.