As the state cuts appropriations to USF, students have to pick up more of the tab, starting with a 15 percent tuition increase this fall.
Julie Jakway, the regional assistant vice chancellor for financial services at USF St. Petersburg, laid several pages out on the table. “This is why tuition is going up,” she said. “State appropriations drive tuition.”
Enrollment at USFSP has increased by 26 percent between 2008 and 2011, but state funds to the university declined by 28 percent, from $31.6 million to $22.8 million.
USFSP faces another $2.4 million cuts in state funding for 2012—a 35 percent reduction since 2008.
The number of out-of-state students, who pay more than three times the in-state tuition, is also on a decline.
Since 2001, the percentage of non-resident undergraduates in the USF system has declined from 3.5 percent to 2.4 percent. In that same time, Florida State University had a 6.5 percent decline, to 3.6 percent, and the University of Florida lost nearly 2 percent, to 2.1 percent.
To make up the funding difference, the Florida Board of Governors, the governing body of the state university system, approved an 8 percent tuition increase for all Florida public universities starting in fall 2012.
In addition, the Board of Governors approved USF’s request for an additional 7 percent increase as a tuition differential fee. According to state law, 70 percent of the revenue generated from this fee must be used to provide for undergraduate education. The remaining 30 percent goes toward need-based financial aid.
Students are exempt from this fee if they have been continuously enrolled in the USF system since July 1, 2007.
Tuition and fees in Florida’s university system is the second lowest in the country for in-state students with an average cost of $5,086 for 30 undergraduate credit hours.
For the next several years, the Board of Governors and university officials will have the option to increase tuition up to 15 percent a year.
While in-state tuition increases, out-of-state students will get a slight reprieve with the USF system reducing out-of-state tuition fees by 15 percent.
More competitive out-of-state tuition prices should drive some interest to the university system, Jakway said.
Out-of-state students bring “different regional perspectives and K through 12 experiences,” she said, which are healthy for an institution. “Plus, they pay more money.”
Tuition is only a part of the true cost, however. In 2010-11, fees constituted roughly 32 percent of tuition and fee costs for USF system students. For USFSP students, OASIS displays many of these fees as additional tuition with detail code “PUGC,” which denotes USFSP group fees.
These fees are assessed per credit hour and consist of $24.80, which funds student clubs and organizations through Student Government; $1.20 for health services; $2.45 for athletics; $2.25 for transportation; $2.32 for building and infrastructure; $4.78 for financial aid; and a state-mandated $2.44 for capital improvement which provides for larger construction projects like the multipurpose student center.
Technology fees of $4.78 per credit hour are assessed and billed separately. Of this, 75 percent stays on the campus where the fee originated and 25 percent goes toward USF system improvements to things such as Blackboard, OASIS and the new DegreeWorks auditing system.
Starting in the fall, undergraduate students opting for online or distance learning courses will pay $50 per credit hour, up from $35, in addition to tuition. This money goes toward developing the technology and infrastructure unique to these courses, Jakway said.
USF students in Tampa pay more expensive fees, primarily toward Marshall Center use and a $13.73 per credit hour athletics fee. Student fees cover 42 percent of the USF athletics budget.
The university also assesses several flat fees. All USFSP students pay a $5 flat fee per semester. Half of that revenue goes toward USFSP athletics, and the rest is sent for use by the USF system.
Students that take labs or courses with special equipment, such as the Macintosh computer or language labs, pay an additional flat fee determined by the department. The per-course fee for use of a Macintosh computer lab, for example, was $43.17 in 2010-11.
All named fees are individually accounted for and spent, Jakway said, and all resultant services and infrastructure are provided at cost.
The cashier’s office hopes to explain tuition bills and fees with more clarity on its website in the near future.
