SGA President Ramon Alexander, said the Governors proposed "tuition increase would be counterproductive to his effort to increase minority enrollment. Students are simply being priced out of an education."
With the state's projected $3.8 billion surplus, "We (students)feel that higher education should be a No. 1 priority, a top-notch priority."
Bush's 70.8 billion spending plan for the next budget year includes $3.43 billion for Florida's 11 state universities - 10.7 percent more than this year. When he unveiled his budget on Feb. 1, the governor called the tuition increase "moderate".
Bush is also seeking $1.5 billion in tax cuts and rebates.
Alexander and other student leaders said the Governor's 5 percent, across the board, tuition increase would amount to a $46.7 million per year and be on top of increases totaling 26 percent over the past four years.
At last Saturday's Black College Expo in Los Angeles, we passed out flyers about FAMU to prospective students and parents. One of the handouts had "the numbers." $99 an hour for in-state, $499 an hour for out-of-state. When you rolled it all up and accounted for 4 years, your out-of-pocket expenses totalled $82,000.
ReplyDeleteThe expression on people's faces told the story: SHOCK!