Opinion
A start
TBO.com
Published: October 27, 2012
When the Legislature approved a plan that would allow the University of Florida and Florida State University, based on their status as research universities, to exceed the 15 percent cap on annual tuition increases within the state university system, Gov. Rick Scott responded with a veto. Scott said he needed more proof that students and taxpayers would benefit from extra spending on college educations.Published: October 27, 2012
This week, the panel set up to address this value-for-money question, the Blue Ribbon Task Force on State Higher Education Reform, came out with a tentative set of recommendations for Scott and the Legislature. They include higher tuition increase caps for "pre-eminent universities" such as UF and FSU, and higher tuition for students seeking certain types of degrees. Degree-specific tuition is intended to steer college students toward careers that are "deemed to be of strategic importance to the state's needs and economy," according to an Associated Press report. The story provided no hint as to who would be in charge of this deeming.
The recommendation that caught our eye is giving the Board of Education, which oversees the university system, more control over universities' budgets. We have long wondered why there is so little interest in why the cost of a college education, here in Florida and around the nation, continues its relentless climb even in times of near-zero inflation.
The task force has paid lip service to the idea that college-cost inflation is worthy of consideration. That is a start.