House proposes tighter restrictions on private higher-education vouchers
Nearly 22,000 private college and university students, including Floridians attending the University of Miami, will go without a longtime state scholarship if the House of Representatives has its way.
Some of Florida's private colleges and universities are raising concerns about the House's proposed budget, which would restrict the state's Effective Access to Student Education award, also known as EASE, which provides $3,500 to Florida students attending private institutions.
The House budget proposal, which at $113 billion is $4.4 billion less than the Senate's, calls for schools to meet benchmarks related to graduation and affordability set by the state to be eligible to receive EASE money. The Senate budget does not propose metric requirements.
Bob Boyd, president of Independent Colleges and Universities of Florida, called the metrics 'arbitrary.'
The University of Miami, University of Tampa, and Bethune-Cookman University are among the 15 schools that would be ineligible to receive EASE money if the language is included in the final budget. ICUF estimates about 22,000 students would lose EASE funding.
The EASE grant, established in 1979, is similar to the recently expanded K-12 voucher program in that taxpayer money is used to pay for private school tuition. The House budget would provide $135.9 billion for the program in the coming fiscal year, in line with current year funding of $134.8 billion.
Mike Allen, president of Barry University in Miami Shores, said the proposal 'doesn't track' with the Legislature's 'priorities around school choice that have been made very, very clear.'
Republican Rep. Demi Busatta, chair of the House Higher Education Budget subcommittee, said she is 'always open to having a discussion' when asked whether she was open to a glide path to implement the metrics.
'I think the most important thing is that the money per student is the same. It has not decreased. We have not changed it,' Busatta said, adding that change would not affect students' eligibility for Bright Futures scholarships.
She said she has had 'many meetings' with ICUF and its institutions including UM, and other stakeholders.
'There's institutions out there that have a 14- or 15% graduation rate. We want to make sure that students aren't going, getting into debt when they are not having the best opportunity to be set up for success at that institution.'
ICUF data show some of its member institutions have four-year graduation rates as low as Busatta suggested, including Webber International University, Barry University, and Bethune-Cookman University.
Republican Rep. Mike Caruso, vice chair of the subcommittee, told the Phoenix he is against the private institution restrictions in the House budget proposal as well as the $5 billion cut to the overall budget.
'I think it's a trickle down from the proposed budget cut of $5 billion from leadership that's working its way down through the different silos and things are going to suffer as a result,' Caruso said Tuesday.
Caruso said the 'big hand of the state puts their foot down on just about everything.'
'These private universities serve a purpose, a tremendous role in the way that we have education, and the EASE program helps to facilitate it. I don't like these restrictions, we put our hand into everything and we continue to do that,' Caruso said.
According to ICUF, its institutions produce 28% of nursing degrees and 25% of teaching degrees in the state.
'The ripple effect can occur in many directions and in many ways, but certainly one will be that this will really limit our ability, particularly here in South Florida, to provide basic services that people need to live here, and I think that would really affect folks,' Allen said, adding that several of the private schools train nurses, a field the state has focused on bolstering amid a shortage.
Hospitals are 'in a panic about the inability to find enough nurses to staff their hospitals,' Allen said.
'When it comes to the EASE grants, they are essential for thousands of our Florida students,' Caruso said, adding that the language 'may be cracking down on the universities, but what we're really hurting is the students themselves, and those students are the future nurses, the future technicians, the future of our state.'
The House proposal would require schools to have graduation rates of at least 54%, retention rates of at least 67%, and affordability rates of $6,183, among other measurements.
Private institution presidents told reporters Monday that factors unique to each university could unfairly exempt students, including how the state calculates accessibility and how it considers graduation rates and course drops when students transfer.
Rep. Gallop Franklin, Democratic ranking member on the House Higher Education Budget subcommittee, told the Phoenix implementing changes to EASE should be more 'methodical.'
Franklin said the proposal would affect 22,000 students instantly and result in immediate costs spikes on students. Franklin suggested grandfathering people in and having conversations with institutions to minimize disruption, or to offer less than $3,500 for the coming year if there are budgetary concerns.
Franklin said he is not sure that the government should 'be in the space of saying, 'Hey, we're only going to allow you to take your voucher to certain schools.''
Tightening EASE disbursements is part of House Speaker Daniel Perez's budget, which is lower than the current year's budget, and comes amid talk of cutting the sales tax by 0.75%.
Boyd complained the state is using 'arbitrary metrics with arbitrary percentages to implement a budget cut — that's the way I look at it.'
David Armstrong, president of St. Thomas University in Miami Gardens, said supporting private schools helps keep students in Florida.
'The fact that the Florida state schools are ranked Number One in the country is fantastic for all of us as the citizens of the state, but who has picked up the role as the access schools?' Armstrong said. 'In our state, it's the community college system and the smaller private institutions that are enrollment-driven. Now that works out fine, because that's a part of our mission, serving those who are underserved.'
Lawmakers will debate the budget Wednesday before heading into negotiations with the Senate.
'I think most of our institutions will survive. It's the impact on the students. Because this is a voucher program. This is not a grant to the institution. This is a direct dollar, per dollar, to that student to go to school and use for their education,' said Art Keiser, chancellor of Keiser University in Fort Lauderdale.
AdventHealth University
Ave Maria University
Barry University
Bethune-Cookman University
Edward Waters University
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Florida Memorial University
Keiser University
Lynn University
Saint Leo University
St. Thomas University
University of Miami
University of Tampa
Warner University
Webber International University
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