University of Florida trustees voted Wednesday to approve a 10% fee increase for out-of-state students.
The flagship school did so after the Board of Governors paved the way last month for up to 10% increases this year and 15% increases next year at all 12 public universities.
The last time UF raised out-of-state fees for undergraduate students was in 2009, and in 2008 for graduate students.
Under the new rate, undergraduate students paying a fee of about $707 per credit hour will now pay nearly $778 per credit hour. For a 15-credit hour semester, that’s a difference of more than $2,000 per year. Financial aid will increase by about $3 per credit hour.
Graduate students, who previously paid about $690 per credit hour, will now pay nearly $760 per credit hour. Financial aid will increase by nearly $3.50 per credit hour.
Those increases alone are estimated to generate close to $19 million in additional revenue for UF, according to a Board of Governors analysis.
Other UF colleges, including the College of Medicine, College of Pharmacy, College of Law and College of Public Health, are also increasing out-of-state fees for their professional programs.
U.S. Sen. Rick Scott criticized the decision, posting on X that as governor, he opposed tuition increases.
“I’d expect all Florida universities to share my commitment to keeping costs low for all students,” he wrote.
UF’s interim Chief Financial Officer Nick Kozlov said costs of instruction have increased by 25% since the last adjustment and that the university faces a $130 million deficit between state appropriation reductions and increased costs associated with employee health and retirement plans.
Kozlov said even after the increase, UF would still have the cheapest out-of-state tuition among U.S. News & World Report’s top 10 public schools in the country.
“Funds from this increase will be applied to offset instructional costs serving non-resident students and to sustain academic quality initiatives across our entire student population,” he said.
Board Chairperson Mori Hosseini added that he wanted to ensure that in-state students were not “supplementing the exceptional education we provide to our out-of-state students.”
But, he said, because the change takes effect starting in fall, he wanted to be sensitive to returning students already enrolled. Students who can provide proof of financial hardship can have the increase waived for the first year.
Though the state caps out-of-state enrollment at 10% across the system, a Board of Governors analysis said that since 2012, out-of-state undergraduate students have increased by 168% and out-of-state graduate students have increased by 54% as Florida universities have ascended in national rankings.
The last time the University of South Florida adjusted its out-out-state fee was 2012. A 10% increase at USF would raise costs from $346.50 to about $381 for undergraduates.