ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — It's a troubling truth for many high school graduates. Students will likely have to pay more to go to the University of Central Florida. The school asked the state for permission to raise tuition by 15 percent and more hikes could be on the way in the next few years.
The University of Central Florida isn't alone. Every institution in the state university system is asking for the same increase to make up for losses in state funding and bring themselves up to par with tuition rates around the country.
Three-quarters of UCF students receive some sort of financial aid. Jenny Santana isn't one of them, so what is likely to be the second double-digit tuition hike in two years stings.
"I was going to do a minor in psychology, but because of the tuition hike I had to drop the minor," Santana said.
The Florida legislature recently raised base tuition by eight percent at all 11 institutions in the state university system. But schools were given the option of requesting an additional or differential hike that would raise undergraduate tuition by 15 percent.
At UCF, that would increase tuition from $4,525 to just over $5,000 this fall.
"I think it's already a lot of money, $500 would be books for me," student Rakel Campos said.
If the Board of Governors okays a differential tuition hike at its meeting at UCF next week, in-state tuition at Florida's public universities would still be $2,000 under the national average and Florida universities will be allowed to make more requests until they reach that average.
"This year we've offered more than $300 million in financial aid. We're going to try to work really hard next year to help students achieve their goals through financial aid," UCF spokesman Chad Binette said.
Ironically, a third of the money received under any differential hike must be used to provide need-based financial aid to students.
"Every year, we evaluate our budget to see that we have what we need to give students the high-quality education they deserve," Binette said.
WFTV was told Wednesday that UCF needs the hike to remain competitive.
WFTV
