The Political Whore

The state Board of Governors of the college system has taken one step in the right direction and another in a terrible direction. From Shannon CVS at the Times:

The board in charge of Florida’s 11 public universities chose the former Thursday, giving college leaders the green light to slash overall enrollment, lay off faculty and staff members, and take other money-cutting measures, all aimed at preserving the value of a four-year degree amid the state’s budget crisis.

The Board of Governors also voted to raise undergraduate, in-state tuition and fees by 8 percent next year, to $83.58 per credit hour, or $186 more per year for a full-time student.

It’s about time we raised tuition, as much as it pains me to say that (full disclosure: I am a graduate student at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg), but Florida’s been out of whack for decades in the amount of money that students pay vs. how much the state subsidizes. Now, with budget shortfalls and the tax crisis, the Board is taking a moderate action, given that it considered raising tuition 13 percent a year for the next five years before falling back to 8 percent.

But what troubles me is the other faculty cuts and enrollment caps that are accompanying the tuition increases, making it harder to get a higher education in Florida at a time when we could use more trained and intelligent young people for our work force. Again, in full disclosure, I’ve got a son who wouldn’t mind being admitted to a Florida public university in a year and a half. And I am a graduate of the University of Florida myself.

Already our public schools are mired at the bottom of national lists in terms of money spent per pupil. One board member worried that the same fate awaits our college system:

“We have to raise the tuition so that universities can go forward with their missions,” said board member Gus Stavros. “We have the worst faculty-student ratio in the nation, we’re 42nd for need-based aid. I’m embarrassed. I’ve never been involved in a mediocre system in my life until now. Let’s do it.”

We should be expanding access to our universities, not curtailing it. We should be providing better educations in our community colleges. Instead, we’re the cheapest because legislators want to keep Florida a cheap place to live. The Times pointed out that even the aggressive 13 percent tuition increase ” would have put Florida’s tuition and fees at about No. 37 among the 50 states, compared to being the least expensive now at $3,361 a year.”

It’s great to be less expensive, but you get what you pay for. If we’re cheap, we’re getting cheap educations. And now fewer and fewer kids will be able to get even that.

(photo: Ben Ostrowsky, some rights reserved)

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