Cost of school rising in the state of Florida

[hbryan]

Thank God I locked both my kids in thru the Prepaid College program.   ;D

I'm with ya EI, Hill is locked in through prepaid.  I just hope the state has invested well and is getting 10+% on investing peoples prepaid contributions and is not using that money to offset budget shortfalls ala the US gov. or it could spell trouble for state universities when our kids get to college.

[hbryan]

This raising tuition stuff happens EVERY YEAR

It aint no big deal if you get scholarships to eat up most of your tuition

For a very long time (90's and 00's), annual increases in tuition were at about 7% and far outpacing inflation.  Florida has always been behind alot of other state schools as far as facilities and professors.  The average tuition for state instutions outside of Florida is much higher in even very poor states like Mississippi.

From the Sun Sentinel:

Florida ranks last among the states in four-year tuition and fees charged by public universities at about $3,361 per undergraduate student. The average tuition nationwide is about $6,200 a year.

[GarySJ]

For a very long time (90's and 00's), annual increases in tuition were at about 7% and far outpacing inflation.

Huh? When I was a student in the mid-90s, tuition at USF was $56 a credit hour. Adjusted for inflation, that's $75.50 now. The proposed increase to $83.50 would mean tuition has increased eight dollars per credit hour over twelve years.

[hbryan]

For a very long time (90's and 00's), annual increases in tuition were at about 7% and far outpacing inflation.

Huh? When I was a student in the mid-90s, tuition at USF was $56 a credit hour. Adjusted for inflation, that's $75.50 now. The proposed increase to $83.50 would mean tuition has increased eight dollars per credit hour over twelve years.

From the SREB for 1996 Legislation in SREB states:

College tuition

In most SREB states, estimates of tuition increases for in-state undergraduates are either lower than or the same as those approved one year ago. Increases range from an average of 1.4 percent in Arkansas to 7 percent in Florida. Tuition will not go up in Mississippi, Oklahoma and Virginia or at two-year colleges in North Carolina. Tuition for students at University of North Carolina campuses will rise $28 to $38. In Alabama, where governing boards at each college approve increases, students will pay from 2 to 17 percent more.

http://www.sreb.org/main/LegAction/legactions/96LegBriefing.asp

From 2002 FSU News article:

"A lot of our students have said, 'we have seen a 7.5 percent increase, and since 1995-96 the tuition has gone up 39.2 percent and the cost of attendance has gone up as well, as other things, but we really haven't seen a huge difference in the quality of education,'" Foy said.

http://media.www.fsunews.com/media/storage/paper920/news/2002/06/10/News/College.Tuition.Continues.To.Rise.InState-2362072.shtml

My point is, even after some years where tuition was increased at 7% per year, we are still well below (actually last) in tuition costs per year when compared to other states.  A tuition increase should occur since we obviously have held back increases and are now well below every other state while also having a budget shortfall.  Seems prudent to me.  Did you have a point?

[WWMJD]

Only two ways to fix the lack of funds for our schools... voters refuse to do it in the voting booth so what other option is there?  Enrollment is getting capped everywhere, UF is talking about cutting summer classes, our state's education system sliding further down the crapper

[Belle of the Bull]

Only two ways to fix the lack of funds for our schools... voters refuse to do it in the voting booth so what other option is there?  Enrollment is getting capped everywhere, UF is talking about cutting summer classes, our state's education system sliding further down the crapper

heres an article an FSU prof wrote. Although I think she is HIGHLY delusional about A LOT of things about FSU and SUS's students - I think she made a few good points.

http://www.sptimes.com/2008/01/27/Opinion/Unnatural_disaster_in.shtml

and what's with this 80 million that UM got? AND the stuff with oregon?

http://media.www.usforacle.com/media/storage/paper880/news/2008/02/07/News/State.Funds.NonSus.Schools.Despite.Budget.Cuts-3193743.shtml

I am so confused about higher ed in FL. What the hell are these people thinking?  Not to be captain obvious or anything but it doesnt take a genius to see that FLORIDA giving $$$ to OREGON is not the smartest move in the world.  scheesh!

[JoeB]

Only two ways to fix the lack of funds for our schools... voters refuse to do it in the voting booth so what other option is there?  Enrollment is getting capped everywhere, UF is talking about cutting summer classes, our state's education system sliding further down the crapper

heres an article an FSU prof wrote. Although I think she is HIGHLY delusional about A LOT of things about FSU and SUS's students - I think she made a few good points.

http://www.sptimes.com/2008/01/27/Opinion/Unnatural_disaster_in.shtml

and what's with this 80 million that UM got? AND the stuff with oregon?

http://media.www.usforacle.com/media/storage/paper880/news/2008/02/07/News/State.Funds.NonSus.Schools.Despite.Budget.Cuts-3193743.shtml

I am so confused about higher ed in FL. What the hell are these people thinking?  Not to be captain obvious or anything but it doesnt take a genius to see that FLORIDA giving $$$ to OREGON is not the smartest move in the world.  scheesh!

This certainly isn't my world in this forum, but I gotta agree..........why on earth would we give money to Oregon?  Especially when USF and UF have programs similar to UO.  Politicians behind closed doors, making deals...............smells fishy.

[WWMJD]

It's a problem from the top down, not just with higher education.  That woman's article seemed spot on to me.  The budgets were cut.  Now there is a lawsuit in the works to stop the universities from raising tuition.  The politicians in power don't care because the Republican party is against public education; their kids will be in private school regardless.  Only one way to make a change and that is at the voting booth.

[Belle of the Bull]

The politicians in power don't care because the Republican party is against public education; their kids will be in private school regardless. 

ok i'm not saying that is NOT true in some cases - but I am saying that she is making some gross generalizations about 1) republicans and higher ed philosophy/conservative ideology AND 2) where elected officials' kids go to school.

I am once again procrastinating on a project.... so allow me to elaborate on these 2 points

1. First let me say that I am teacher at a university- that doesn't automatically make me a raging liberal - but you can bet that I am not a member of the GOP. And I never will be as far as I can tell. But before I did whole teacher thing - I worked in politics and was very interested in education issues - particularly higher education.

I am mentioning this because I can say with certainty that many local politicians -republicans and democrats - DO care about education BUT have a very simple and narrow minded view of what so-called "academic excellence" means. Most of them are quite happy with the state of higher education.  they dont want to fund universities like state like California or Michigan - because they don't feel it is necessary. most of them are products of FL schools and really don't see much of a problem. It was good enough for them and its good enough for the average citizen. Again this attitude is representative of MOST of the state level politicians I met when I had a real-world job. That was a while ago- but i highly doubt anything has changed. Please correct me if I am wrong about that.

2. Their kids. I can name at least 6 politicians off the top of my head that put their kids through school at USF, FSU and UF. Not all people in a higher tax bracket send their kids to private school. I went to school at USF because I wanted to not because I had no choice but to stay in state --- and I also know a lot of kids who went to UF and FSU and USF that could have gone ANYWHERE - due to their intelligence AND due to the fact that they and dad and mom -  had money.

Just cause kids decide to stay in state doesn't mean that they don't have the financial resources to go elsewhere. A lot of kids CHOOSE USF,UF and FSU and their parents send them there because for them - its a good enough education. Not all parents want their kids to go to the Harvards or even the Berkleys of the world - even if they have the money and the brains to go. Don't get me wrong- there are economic issues - she is correct that many don't care and will send their kids to private schools because they can afford to do so.  but i am saying that a lot of it is cultural too.

ok that was my 2 cents. Now write your local congressman and state senator.

[hbryan]

I do agree with Belle and WWMJD, that we definitely shouldn't be sending money to Oregon or a private in-state university and that money should be used in the current crisis.   However, that article sounded very familiar to a book I read as a preschooler......Chicken Little anyone?

"The pitiful funding from our Legislature, combined with their unwillingness to let us control our tuition rate, means we're now as dismal as recent disaster areas like Louisiana and Mississippi in per capita spending on students."

A quote from the woman's article which is telling.  That is how most liberal Democrats judge the state of education;  How much is spent per capita on students.  Why not just spend double what California is doing and then we can see where that takes us? 

Nevermind, below is where it takes us, as mentioned in the League of Women Voters of California web site:

THE CALIFORNIA BUDGET CRISIS 

The state budget deficit has reached crisis proportions, with a $14.5 billion deficit projected over the next 18 months.

The League has joined coalition partners in offering guidance to legislators and the administration as they deal with the situation.

We believe California’s budget should invest in services and infrastructure for the future. We oppose arbitrary across-the-board budget cuts and believe that all options, including revenue increases, must be on the table.

Wow, that kind of deficit but budget cuts should be off the table and they need additional investment in services and infrastructure!  Man, the pot must be good in Mexifornia.  That's what rampant liberalism and democratic governance gets you, a deep hole and still digging.

Governor proposes 10% cut in spending across the board. He rejects tax hikes, touts benefits of his spread-the-pain plan.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposal yesterday for a $141 billion state budget with deep cuts was met with fear that 100,000 teachers may lose their jobs and suspicion that it's a ploy to get budget reform.

Schwarzenegger insisted tax increases would not be part of the mix, reminding reporters that he pledged not to raise taxes when he took office in 2004.

“I'm going to keep my promise,†he said. “I will not raise taxes on the people of California because they are already paying enough taxes.â€Â

The Republican governor's proposal for a 10 percent across-the-board cut to help close a $14.5 billion budget shortfall over the next 18 months sets up a confrontation with the Democratic-controlled Legislature.

“Cuts alone simply will not work,†said Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, D-Los Angeles.

The speaker advocated closing “tax loopholes†and tightening business-income reporting and even looking at leasing the state Lottery, which Wall Street firms say could yield a lump-sum payment of $14 billion to $37 billion.

Who would they lease that to?  The Chinese?

Both California and Florida set up their higher education state systems to be low-moderate costs for state citizens, so lets compare:

              1999-00   2000-01   2001-02       2002-03     2003-04     2004-05    2005-06

California   2,562       2,566       2,719          2,786          3,785         3,830      4,140

Florida      2,242       2,366       2,555          2,591          2,773         2,950      3,100

As you can see from above, California and Florida were very close and trying to provide to their state citizens a low-cost higher education.  A big disparity happened in 2003-04 which was California's massive budget crisis that got Gray Davis recalled and Ahnold elected.  That whole spend more than you take in thing!  How many kids were suddenly priced out of a higher education? Who knows for sure but that is what happens when tuition is hiked too drastically.  I personally agree that a reasonable tuition hike is in order.  The chicken littles should wear a helmet just in case the sky does fall in.  ;D ;D