Cuts to the university’s funding may start cutting into your wallets.
UF President Bernie Machen has proposed a 30 percent increase in tuition to counteract the proposed budget cuts from Gov. Rick Scott.
The possible increase would raise in-state tuition from $5,000 to $6,500 a year.
In a written statement, Machen said UF has had almost $150 million in state budget cuts during the last few years. The proposed cut is more than $3.3 billion for the education in the state, according to Scott’s budget.
“Now we face the distinct possibility that more budget cuts are on the way,” he said.
UF’s average in-state tuition is a little more than $5,000, compared with the national average of $7,605, according to collegeboard.com.
For out-of-state students, the national average is $11,990, compared with UF’s average of more than $27,000.
Machen’s proposal is a one-time 30 percent increase that will help UF keep core programs and benefits for employees but will still have tuition lower than the national average.
“We have to think about extraordinary measures for extraordinary times to get us through the next year or two,” he said.
UF spokeswoman Janine Sikes said though the state budget is not set in stone, Machen, along with others, has heard of a strong possibility for cuts in UF funding including pension and an increase in the cost of health insurance for employees.
“Any additional cuts will be devastating to UF,” she said.
She said at some point UF would have reached a 30 percent increase anyway, but the proposed increase would get the university through the proposed budget cut.
“The 30 percent would help get us over the hump,” she said.
Because of Senate Bill 762, signed by former Gov. Charlie Crist, all state universities are allowed to increase tuition as much as 15 percent annually until the institution reaches the national average.
Last year, tuition went up 8 percent across the state, and UF was allowed an extra 7-percent increase, which reached the maximum of 15 percent.
Sikes said it is a “worse-case-scenario” plan.
