Out-of-state university students could face tuition hikes in Florida

CBS News

12 hours ago

Out-of-state students attending Florida universities could see a 10 percent increase in tuition this fall and an additional hike the following school year, under a rule unanimously adopted by the state university system's Board of Governors on Wednesday.
Tuition hikes for out-of-state students would have to be approved by university boards of trustees and schools would have to maintain their current ratio of in-state students to out-of-state students.
If increases are approved for the 2025-2026 school year, they would be the first tuition hikes in more than a decade for out-of-state students, according to documents distributed before Wednesday's Board of Governors vote.
None of the state's 12 universities has raised tuition since 2012, and Florida State University hasn't had an increase since 2004, the documents said.
Florida has the nation's third-lowest tuition and fees for out-of-state students, at an average of $21,690 in 2023-2024. That was about 28 percent lower than the national average of $30,140.
Nearly 33,000 undergraduate students from outside the state — about 12 percent of all students — attend Florida's public universities. Roughly 25,000 of the state's 76,000 graduate students, or 33 percent, are nonresidents.
Balancing financial impacts and educational access
Board of Governors member Alan Levine, who proposed the increase, noted that "our total cost of a degree is one of the lowest in the country for students."
Levine said in a text message to The News Service of Florida that the proposal would allow increases of up to 10 percent this fall and up to 15 percent in fall 2026. He said his "strong suspicion is it will end up being less than 10% this year as trustees try to minimize impact on current students."
A hike over two years would give out-of-state students more leeway to plan their finances, Levine suggested during the meeting. Florida law caps annual tuition increases for in-state and out-of-state students at 15 percent.
"We want to make sure we don't create sticker shock for students that are here currently," Levine said.
Maintaining ratios of in-state and out-of-state students would ensure that Floridians don't lose slots in schools to higher-paying applicants.
"We do not want to see universities raising their nonresident enrollment rates to increase revenues, particularly at the expense of in-state students," Levine said.
Tuition increases approved by university boards of trustees would have to be shared with university system Chancellor Ray Rodrigues.
An across-the-board 5 percent tuition increase for out-of-state undergraduate students at all of the state's universities would generate nearly $24.2 million annually, according to the document presented to the board. A 15 percent hike would bring an extra $72.5 million to the state.
Tuition for out-of-state students varies throughout universities. For undergraduates, the University of South Florida offers the lowest per-credit hour rate for nonresidents, at $346.50. The University of Florida weighs in as the highest, at $707.21. The average statewide is $491.90.
Debating compliance and institutional priorities
Board of Governors member Eric Silagy tried to link the proposed increases to part of Florida law that says tuition for out-of-state students should offset the cost of providing education to such students. Silagy said three schools in the system — New College of Florida, Florida A&M University, and Florida Polytechnic University — don't meet the requirement.
"I don't think we should be allowing the board of trustees to go up to the maximum 15% because these three schools have an obligation, not a choice, an obligation, to be in compliance with state law," Silagy said.
Silagy, who has harshly criticized New College in the past, argued that schools where Florida taxpayers are "subsidizing" out-of-state students shouldn't be allowed to increase the number of nonresident students.
According to Silagy, the state is spending more than $82,000 per student for New College, which has 802 students, including 90 who aren't Florida residents. As a comparison, the state spends roughly $19,000 per student at the University of Florida.
Silagy's remarks drew fire from New College President Richard Corcoran, a former state House speaker who was recruited by Gov. Ron DeSantis to remake the Sarasota liberal-arts school into a conservative higher-education institution.
Corcoran called Silagy's comparisons of New College to other Florida universities "odious."
"When we, the new board, came onto the scene, here's the rhetoric that we were told: 'Be the Hillsdale of the South. Grow your prestige to what you were in the past,'" Corcoran said, referring to the conservative Hillsdale College in Michigan.
New College is "just not like the rest" of Florida's public universities, Corcoran argued.
"I mean, we took over an absolute failed institution, had it been not publicly funded, would have closed a decade ago, without question," he said. "The question is, do you want to build, for the Legislature and the governor, a world-class liberal-arts institution? If the answer is yes … we can't be graded or evaluated in that same context."