As a physics professor at one of Florida’s public universities, I am always looking for ways to encourage students and their parents to take on the challenge of majoring in science or engineering in college. A few weeks ago, I visited with parents of middle and high school students who attend a science-oriented school near […]
State university leaders want to add $45 million in needs-based financial aid to help make up for changes to the Bright Futures scholarship program. Those new, higher qualifications will eliminate more than $250 million a year in college aid by 2018. The State University System Board of Governors will discuss the proposal today. UPDATE: The […]
This coming Saturday marks the grand opening for Florida’s 12th state university. Florida Polytechnic University, in Polk County, will offer a tuition-free education focused on science, technology, engineering and math — STEM — to its inaugural class of about 550 students. They start on August 25th. President Randy Avent sat down with Robin Sussingham from […]
Gov. Rick Scott is asking lawmakers to eliminate the state’s tuition differential law, which allows universities to request as much as a 15 percent tuition increase each year. Scott has fought higher education tuition hikes since he took office in 2011. “We are changing how we fund higher education,” Scott said, according to the prepared […]
Florida universities can start making plans to spend two new pots of money lawmakers created earlier this year. The University of Central Florida and the University of South Florida earned the highest scores — and therefore the most money — in the first round of performance-based funding for state universities. The Board of Governors said […]
A new report finds Florida’s public university system is a good model in affordability for the rest of the country. Florida Rising: An Assessment of Public Universities in the Sunshine State analyzed cost, administrative and academic spending, curriculum, and graduation rates at Florida’s 11 universities. (Florida Polytechnic University – the 12th in the system – […]
The Florida House has unanimously passed a bill to create an online-only institute at an existing Florida university. “Florida is leading the charge on the digital revolution in higher education,” said House Speaker Will Weatherford. “We are taking the necessary steps to ensure our students will be ready to compete in the global marketplace.” Weatherford had […]
The Florida Board of Governors has approved a plan to add online learning options in the State University System. The board’s strategic planning committee has been taking testimony and working with those with a stake in the decision for more than a year on how Florida should expand online learning. The plan doesn’t include a […]
The percentage of Floridians earning college degrees is not increasing fast enough to keep pace with the job market, according to the head of a foundation working to boost higher education graduates. That’s what Jamie Merisotis, president and CEO of the Lumina Foundation, told the Economic Club of Florida last week. “It’s an urgent need,” Merisotis […]
Students who transfer to the University of South Florida can still earn a degree at their former school. USF and four Tampa Bay colleges signed a “reverse transfer” agreement Monday. That means when a student completes a class a USF, the credits can count toward an associate’s degree at Hillsborough Community College, Pasco-Hernando Community College, […]
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