I don’t think it is the school per se, but the way the Governor and Legislature went about it. Bright Futures is amazing. Let’s fund the schools to keep our smartest in state! Stats will of course rise, because many kids see this as a great way to emerge from college with minimal debt. Some schools become more and more selective.
Meanwhile, the FL government created very selective funding (you can look up preeminence if you have not heard of this before). The higher your stats are, the more money you get. It was no longer being funded by how many kids you were teaching. This leads to disparities in funding. I believe FAMU had no funding increase for a while under the program. How do programs get better if you draining their funding? This is not dissimilar from how FL manages its school grades and funding.
And then they started messing with Bright Futures and other funding. They took away the book stipend last year, and this year it is tied to general revenue budgets for funding. Who knows if in-state students will even get what they thought was their expected college tuition through the program. It might be OK this year (election year), but what about next year? (anyone around for their last cluster in funding BF in 2011 knows this is def. something to watch and be nervous about).
Then add in the funding for the grandparents to get their kids in-state tuition (this isn’t a knock on those that applied for it. They made the program, and I would def. take advantage of it in someone else’s shoes). But as a Fl. resident, that to me isn’t a way to help Florida kids. Usually programs like that are to help bolster schools that are still trying to claw themselves to the top of the rankings. Fl is there already. Should we not focus on making the education of Fl kids the highest priority?
Anyway, it really is a numbers game when it comes to admissions. If they have already filled the number allocated to the “top-prep school kids” then the bucket is filled. I don’t love our high school, but in this case, the crappy reputation is def. helping my kids fill the “crappy public school” bucket.
Florida already provides some of the lowest cost, if not the lowest, college education in the country for in state students. When looked at compared to other states with our population, it is truly incredible that your students can get a college education for such a small cost. Add in the fact that Florida doesn’t have a state income tax and the value increases even more.
Because Florida manages its finances responsibly, and doesn’t have the mind-boggling unfunded liabilities of so many other states, the Legislature is very careful how every nickel is spent. How many other states provide a similar Bright Futures scholarship that further reduces the cost of education for tens of thousands of students?
The state funds schools based partially on merit and uses that to push underperforming schools to adopt policies that will allow them to improve. If you look at the demand for charter schools in this state, and the corresponding waiting lists, you’ll see that there are a lot of Florida K-12 schools that choose to serve themselves rather than the students. Charter schools are attended mostly by minorities who are trying to escape the cycle of failure that so many of our schools provide. Why should underperforming schools be provided with the same level of funding every year when they don’t improve results and don’t make the necessary changes? Sounds like the definition of insanity. But that’s exactly what schools in other states do to appease the unions, and others, without concern for the students or the taxpayers. Our elected representatives choose not to copy this poor behavior. This parent/student-centric approach to education is one of the many reasons our Legislature and Executive Branch are dominated year after year by the same party.
The pandemic devastated the state’s finances, but not as much as the states that were intent on crushing the very people who provide the revenue that allows a healthy government to exist. As I said earlier, our elected representatives, for the most part, are fiscally responsible leaders. In an effort to cope with the lost revenue the pandemic caused, education funding was lowered. This resulted in the loss of the book stipend and required greater academic performance to receive Bright Futures - in a state with already one of the lowest cost college educations available. As someone who has to live within a budget at home, and who works for a company that has to live within its means, I fully understand and appreciate why they do what they do. Complaining about the cost of a college education in this state requires ignoring so many of the facts that make Florida a great place to send your children to college.
Florida A&M University, the highest-ranked public HBCU in U.S. News & World Report’s list, has received far less funding than the three preeminent universities from the performance-based program. It has received a total of $56.7 million since the program began eight years ago. In three of the years, it received no funding.
However, the university’s enrollment is under 10,000, while the three preeminent universities’ average enrollment is almost 45,000. FAMU’s smaller size comes with a smaller budget, and the maximum performance-based funding allocations for each university scale with 10% of the university’s budget.
Just wondering if everyone who was rejected got the same letter? My daughter’s letter said you have potential etc. then gave her a link to apply to certain majors as a transfer NOT needing 60 credits for transfer? I thought all transfers must occur after 60 credit hours from another school for UF? She was not offered PACE.
Airfare into Jax might be higher and less convenient times. It is a much easier airport to manage with easy car rental in/out than either Orlando or Tampa.
The scholarship review is holistic. About 10% of the admitted students are offered a merit scholarship. The scholarship will finish reviewing the admitted students and recipients will be notified by March 11th.
How can we go from Orlando airport or Jax to UF? We located in NE and can only fly to Orlando or Jax. Any suggestions? I checked that the airport shuttle fare is expensive for college students.
Florida doesn’t have a lot of public transportation. Cars are necessary.
After your student starts at a U, it’s easy to find rides from friends or friends of friends. My daughter went to a school that was about an hour (and a $4 toll) from the Orlando airport. She always found friends to drive her for about $20 (tolls, gas). There were shuttles but those could be $60 to $90 (if you shared, found friends to share, etc). I don’t think she ever took one. Her town had an airport but the flights were more expensive and involved a transfer in Atlanta, so was never our preferred option.
The question was - which is the most convenient airport to fly to. I assumed the question was related to a family visit.
We have friends whose kids go. They fly home to Nashville on Southwest (nonstop) from Jax - but they have a car and leave it there. And drive home for long breaks.
Jax is 81 miles. Orlando is 121 miles.
So if you’re talking about how does your student get home on breaks, There is a small airport in Gainesville with Delta and American (flights to Atlanta, Charlotte, and Dallas). I see there are many shuttles and perhaps the school sponsors some during holidays??
However, I’m not a student and in this case it’d be better for a current student to answer you.
It certainly would be a concern coming from out of state (unless you use the local airport). However, with the many kids attending school from all over the country, I’m sure it’s very do-able.
You mention FAMU specifically but FAU, FGCU, New College, Florida Polytech, UNF and UWF Received zero dollars as well from the Preeminent Program
Bright Futures This year will pay out over 650 million dollars up from 69 million in 1997 its first year. Unfortunately due to its popularity and cost sometimes changes need to be made.
This year they lowered the ACT score to 25 from 26. There are many freshman in college now that are not getting 75% Bright futures because they graduated in 2021 vs 2022
The 600 dollar book stipend was cut out this year, but the other parts on funding tied to general funding budget did not pass.
The Grandparents tuition waiver is capped at 350 state wide. a tiny fraction of students
FAMU mentioned , here are some additional programs not mentioned for them with their relationship with FSU a Preeminent University
FAMU shares an Engineering school with FSU a top 20 Public
FAMU-FSU Engineering School. Students from each school will receive a degree from their home school but will be in the same classes together as if they were one school. https://www.eng.famu.fsu.edu
There is also a co-op program where FAMU students can take FSU classes
