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OrlandoSentinel.com
New law would let UCF shine with tuition premiums
Lawmakers might allow more schools to join Florida's top-tier universities.</p>
<p>Luis Zaragoza</p>
<p>Sentinel Staff Writer</p>
<p>February 23, 2008</p>
<p>Lawmakers are setting the stage for the University of Central Florida and two other universities to join the trio of top-ranked state schools that can charge a premium on tuition.</p>
<p>If proposed legislation becomes law, UCF students could eventually face a 30 percent fee on top of the base price of tuition.</p>
<p>"It's important that UCF not be left behind," said state Sen. Lee Constantine, R- Altamonte Springs, who co-sponsored the Senate version of the bill that could open the door for research-oriented schools such as UCF to charge the fee.</p>
<p>UCF administrators were disappointed in June when Gov. Charlie Crist approved legislation allowing only the University of Florida, Florida State University and the University of South Florida to charge the fee, also known as differential tuition.</p>
<p>The schools sought the fee to improve undergraduate education, which could include hiring more instructors. The improvements are needed to help the trio compete with top schools in other states, officials said.</p>
<p>Crist's decision was surprising because he had earlier vetoed a 5 percent across-the-board tuition increase and blasted increasing costs to students. Crist said student support for the fee helped change his mind.</p>
<p>It's not clear whether Crist would support a measure allowing more schools to charge the fee. The governor recently submitted a proposed budget that did not include tuition increases.</p>
<p>A call for comment was not returned Friday, but one legislator who backs the bill is worried.</p>
<p>"We do want to try to get UCF included, but that may be very difficult because of the governor," said Sen. Evelyn Lynn, R- Ormond Beach, co-sponsor of the Senate bill and a sponsor of last year's legislation. Rep. Stephen Precourt, R- Winter Garden, is sponsoring the House version.</p>
<p>The proposed bill was filed this month amid an acrimonious struggle over who controls tuition -- the Legislature or the Board of Governors that oversees state universities. The board has joined a lawsuit to take control of tuition, which is the lowest in the nation. Senate President Ken Pruitt, R-Port St. Lucie, countered with a call for a constitutional amendment cementing the Legislature's control.</p>
<p>Unlike regular tuition increases, the fee is not covered by the state's lottery-funded Bright Futures merit scholarships, nor would the expense be covered by most pre-paid tuition contracts bought after July 1, 2007. Students have to pay the difference out-of-pocket.</p>
<p>Students last year said they supported the fee because the money must be spent on improving undergraduate education, which could include hiring more instructors.</p>
<p>Maria Pecoraro, director of governmental affairs for the UCF Student Government Association, said she favors a law that would allow UCF to charge a premium based on tuition, as long as the state doesn't use that as an excuse to cut the amount of money it gives universities.</p>
<p>"What we don't want to see is the state lowering allocations because schools are getting more money from tuition," Pecoraro said this week during a campus seminar on tuition.</p>
<p>The proposed legislation doesn't single out specific universities that can charge the fee. Instead, it establishes a set of criteria that would allow them to do so.</p>
<p>One proposed criterion gives schools the go-ahead if they spend at least $100 million on research. Officials at UCF said Friday that they expect to cross that threshold in a few years. They expected Florida International University could follow a few years later, and Florida Atlantic University in five to 10 years. The bill would make it virtually impossible for other Florida Universities to charge a tuition premium. Schools that focus on undergraduate education, such as New College in Sarasota, would not qualify without a major shift in academic focus.</p>
<p>The original three -- UF, FSU and USF -- are still deciding how to phase in the increases, which take effect in the fall. The law allows them to impose increases in increments of 15 percent of base tuition a year until they reach the maximum fee of 40 percent of tuition at UF and FSU and 30 percent at USF.</p>
<p>The fee applies to freshmen and transfer students entering school in the fall. Students enrolled prior to the fall are exempt.</p>
<p>Luis Zaragoza can be reached at <a href="mailto:lzaragoza@orlandosentinel.com">lzaragoza@orlandosentinel.com</a> or 407-420-5718.</p>
<p>Copyright © 2008, Orlando Sentinel</p>