Measures that would allow the University of Florida and Florida State University to increase tuition by virtually unlimited amounts moved ahead in both chambers of the Legislature on Tuesday, with a trip to the House floor almost certain.
The House version of the proposals (HB 7129) passed the House Appropriations Committee on an 18-5 vote in the morning, with Rep. Paige Kreegel, R-Punta Gorda, joining four of the panel’s eight Democrats in opposing the legislation.
The Senate version (SB 1752) passed the Senate Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee unanimously.
Supporters say the measures will allow the two schools to become top-tier research universities and give any of the other nine state universities who might be interested in doing so a roadmap for how to reach similar goals. Any university that meets 11 of 14 benchmarks in the legislation would be allowed more flexibility in setting tuition, though the Florida Board of Governors would still have to approve the rates.
Sen. Steve Oelrich, R-Gainesville, stressed to colleagues that the bill was more far-reaching than the focus on student costs.
“This is not a tuition bill,” he said. “This is a bill to raise a couple of our universities to a new level, a new sphere, if you want to call it that.”
Universities have said increased tuition flexibility will help them increase the output of students with degrees in science, technology, engineering and math — areas known as STEM, which are expected to drive the economy in the future. Gov. Rick Scott has pushed universities to focus more on STEM degrees, though he has been cool to the idea of tuition increases.
“We need to be able to do things that enhance the economic development of our state,” said UF President Bernie Machen.
UF and FSU, as well as supporters of the tuition measures, have pointed out that Florida’s tuition is near the bottom of the national rankings — a policy that keeps them from competing with high-powered state institutions like the University of North Carolina and the University of Michigan.
“I also would predict that if we don’t do something, we will actually begin to decline relative to the other universities,” said FSU President Eric Barron.
House Education Chairman Bill Proctor, the St. Augustine Republican who sponsored the House version, argued that lawmakers were partially to blame for the low price tags.
“But do keep in mind that because of the prepaid [tuition] program and the Bright Futures program, the Legislature has suppressed tuition in the state university system for years,” Proctor said. “And that’s why we have fallen so far behind the national average.”
Some lawmakers, though, questioned the need to increase tuition as the economy still struggles to recover from the recession and whether the bill might limit college opportunities for low-income students, despite promises by the universities to provide financial aid to offset the changes.
“I think it’s a shallow victory to try to build our economy on the backs of our students and their parents,” Kreegel said.
“How will it affect the average student who can’t afford to go there who really has everything else going for themselves but the dollars?” asked Sen. Arthenia Joyner, D-Tampa, who eventually voted for the measure.
House Speaker Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park, opened the session with a speech about higher education reform and has pointed to Proctor’s bill as a priority. The Senate version still has one committee stop to go — with that panel unlikely to meet again this session — but could be pulled out of the committee and brought to the floor.
By Brandon Larrabee
