Board of Governors Meet

Colleges and Universities A-Z Florida State University
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<p>Board Approves Freshmen Enrollment Freeze, Tuition Hike</p>

<p>POSTED: 7:43 am EDT July 11, 2007</p>

<p>MIAMI -- The Board of Governors on Tuesday instituted a three-year freeze on freshmen enrollment at the funded level, meaning they will not increase the number of freshmen admitted to public universities.</p>

<p>With looming budget cuts and a 5 percent tuition veto, university officials said they fear the quality of education is being compromised. If students continue to flood the schools, they won't have access to advisers or the classes they need to graduate, said State University System Chancellor Mark B. Rosenberg.</p>

<p>"We have stretched the rubber band as far as we can stretch it. If we continue to place a premium on access and not graduation, we will be able to get the students in but not out," Rosenberg said.</p>

<p>The freeze, effective spring 2008, does not affect upper-division enrollment and community college transfers.</p>

<p>The board, which met at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, also approved a tuition hike. The unspecified raise also will take effect spring 2008 and will not exceed 5 percent.</p>

<p>The State University System includes 11 institutions and 300,000 students.</p>

<p>Rosenberg said current funding is roughly 60 cents on the dollar, meaning there are 5,627 students enrolled for which they don't receive basic state support.</p>

<p>Consequently, the board said the State University System has the worst student-faculty ratio in the nation.</p>

<p>Senate President Ken Pruitt said he was disappointed with the board's decision and promised a court battle.</p>

<p>"The Constitution clearly does not give the Board of Governors the authority to set tuition. It's the duty of the Legislature," he said in a statement. "Mark my word; we are going to fight to make sure the American dream of higher education is affordable for all students."</p>

<p>The board also decided to join a lawsuit filed by former Gov. Bob Graham, which asks the court to determine whether the Legislature or the Board of Governors holds authority to set tuition rates.</p>

<p>Graham's lawsuit argues the authority lies with the Board of Governors.</p>

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<p>:( there goes my chance of getting in</p>

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<p>Don't give up...try all the things posted to maximize your chances. :)</p>

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<p>UCF is following in lockstep it appears</p>

<p><a href="http://news.ucf.edu/UCFnews/index?page=article&id=0024004102c4c1d99011146fc1c320055c7%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://news.ucf.edu/UCFnews/index?page=article&id=0024004102c4c1d99011146fc1c320055c7&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>Some FSU actions under discussion include "applying stringent admission criteria for Spring 2008 new and transfer students".</p>

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<p>so it won't affect fall 08 applicants?</p>

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<p>Yes it will. Remember Fall 2008 (starting in August 2008) comes after Spring 2008 (starting January 2008) on the school year calendar.</p>

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<p>^Unfortunately, this is correct. Don't give up, tomatoking. Things can change in a moment.</p>

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<p>Yes, things can change quickly, as this current Florida political climate is uncharted ground. </p>

<p>One thing that adds to the unknown: While there is no tuition increase at the same time as budget cuts for all colleges for the upcoming '07-'08 school year, forcing hiring freezes and enrollment caps, what happens next year ('08-'09 school year) when there WILL be a tuition increase (due to passing of the legislation allowing FSU, UF, USF up to 15% annual tuition increase til up to a 40%/30% delta over legislative set tuition basis) remains to be seen. </p>

<p>I have not read whether the approved tuition increase will only apply to incoming freshman (class of '12), or whether it will apply to all enrollees. Either option could provide possible enrollment cap relief and increase hiring of instructors & advisers to lower class sizes and speed up graduation rates. </p>

<p>And now with the Board of Governor's joining Senator Graham's lawsuit disputing the legislature's authority to set tuition, things could change from this plan too!</p>

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<p>The tuition increase, pending the lawsuit, is set to begin spring of 08; and historically, tuition increases have previously applied to all students as of the set date.</p>

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<p>I would assume the 5% tuition increase is meant for all students in Spring 2008 but the 15% tuition enhancement fee will only impact incoming students in the Fall 2008.</p>

<p>Now I wonder what the impact would be on the Florida prepaid tuition plan as well as the Florida Bright Futures scholarships if the tuition is increased by 5% in the Spring. It should be covered -- but will it matter whether the Board of Governors set the tuition vs. the state legislature? Will the state be able to cover the increases since tax revenues are down this year?</p>

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<p>Prepaid should be the same. That was one of the huge advantages of the Prepaid program.</p>

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<p>Tuition increases are, by law, covered under Prepaid and Bright Futures, whether it is a fall or spring increase. That is why there is disagreement between the legislature and the board about who has the authority to declare tuition increases. I believe that it was decided that the tuition enhancement fees will be covered by Prepaid but not covered by Bright Futures.</p>

<p>And yes, the tuition increase for Spring of 2008 would not effect the tuition enhancements planned to start Fall of 2008. </p>

<p>Unfortunately, while there is an enrollment freeze, there may still be more students accepted Fall of 2008, as some will not be able to matriculate due to the increases.</p>

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<p>As far as the "tuition enhancement fee" starting Fall 2008 is concerned, any current FL prepaid tuition owners would be covered but I believe future owners might need to purchase a new additional plan if they think their child will be attending one of the top three FL universities similar to how the local fee plan was introduced well after the initial tuition plan was available.</p>

<p>I sure hope you are correct that the Prepaid and Bright Futures will cover the tuition increase even though it was not introduced by the legislature. There is always a possibility that the Bright Futures scholarship criteria could be changed so that future students would not qualify under the same rules as today.</p>

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<p>Bright Futures is unknown as far as I'm concerned, but Prepaid should be safe.</p>

<p>With the lawsuit its uncertain how the programs will work, but generally I would think that any increases will be announced and implemented in stages.</p>

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<p>UCF is being forced to go after bigger cuts and there does seem to still be a contingency in where this will endup. All in the Florida University system will have to stay diligent to understand what is coming in the future</p>

<p><a href="http://news.ucf.edu/UCFnews/index?page=article&id=0024004102c4c1d99011146fc1c32005312%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://news.ucf.edu/UCFnews/index?page=article&id=0024004102c4c1d99011146fc1c32005312&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>Tuition increases such as the 5% across the board approved for fall 2007 will be covered by Bright Futures but the much larger surcharges at UF/FSU and USF will NOT be covered by Bright Futures. Both will be covered by Florida Prepaid plans previously purchased and both will apply to all students paying tuition when the increases go into effect. Since the surcharges are phased in over time starting in '08, today's upper classmen will only end up feeling a small part of the effect before they graduate, however. Florida Prepaid will be changed in the future, probably with an option whether or not to cover the research schools.
BTW, UCF is expected to be added to the list of schools adding a surcharge in the next cycle based on a formula that takes into account the amount of research going on at a school.</p>

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<p>"The freeze, effective spring 2008, does not affect upper-division enrollment and community college transfers."</p>

<p>There have been a number of changes in the system recently that seem to point in a particular direction -- using community colleges as feeders for the university system. For example, 75% Bright Futures now pays 100% of community college tuition costs. Many students are taking their required liberal classes at a community college, then transferring to a university to take the specialized courses they need to earn a particular degree.</p>

<p>This change does seem to follow along that line since community college transfers will not be affected by the freeze. I even expect there may be increases in the number of transfer students accepted in order to accommodate those who can't enter the university system any other way.</p>

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<p>That is assuming UCF or any other Florida university not currently qualifying under the differential tuition bill can generate at least $100 million in research. </p>

<p>Note that $100 M only allows the minimum tuition differential, which I believe is 20%. To be allowed to charge the 40% increase, as in FSU or UF, the university must meet a number of different ratings. The ratings must be in things like Ph.Ds awarded, patents awarded and so on as specified in Florida law. Note that USF qualified only at the 30% level, despite their mature med school. The diff. law ignores the MD and JD in the calculation - those degrees do not count towards the qualification. </p>

<p>It will not be easy to reach the 40% level.</p>