Florida Board of Governors

10/28/2010

Statement from State University System Chancellor Frank Brogan regarding annual release of national trends for student costs and financial aid from The College Board

We are grateful to The College Board for its extensive look once again at all public and private higher education pricing and correlating financial aid trends for college students nationwide. Florida remains the 48th-lowest in state university tuition, as last year. As student and families grapple with the very real challenges we know they face, Florida's standing also is buoyed by several issues first and foremost, the confirmation in these two reports of an issue we and the Florida Legislature knew that the average net prices students pay after considering grant aid and tax benefits have increased more slowly than the Consumer Price Index over the past five years. Secondly, in the State University System of Florida with 11 public institutions and more than 300,000 students what amounts to the student-State of Florida split' for the cost of education clearly speaks to the Legislature's historical commitment of a considerable state investment in each student enrolled. The most recent data set complete with closed-out expenses data from the universities shows student cost per-credit-hour for educational instruction at 38 percent of the split, and the State's contribution, or investment, picking up the other 62 percent of the cost per-credit-hour. Both the Florida Board of Governors and the universities' respective Boards of Trustees will continue to do all that we can collaboratively to advocate for our students as they pursue and finish their degrees.'

Background

The 'Trends in Student Aid 2010' and 'Trends in College Pricing 2010' reports, from the College Board Advocacy & Policy Center, note that despite rising published prices, the average net prices students pay after considering grant aid and tax benefits have increased more slowly than the Consumer Price Index over the past five years. U.S. students and families faced an average 7.9 percent jump in in-state tuition and fees at public four-year colleges and universities in 2010-11, but their financial burden is being eased somewhat by record increases in federal grant aid. In 2009-10, there also was the largest increase ever in Pell grants history.

State University System of Florida Information

The College Board's Trends in College Pricing data is the source that Florida's own Financial Aid Estimating Conference has officially adopted as a measure of where the State University System is relative to the national average. This year's trends shows the State University System of Florida at 48th-lowest among the states for tuition expense at $4,886, with Wyoming and Louisiana the only two with lower public, four-year tuition and fees. The national average for four-year public institutions in 2010-11 is $7,605 (for a difference of $2,719 the difference between Florida's standing and the national average).

Regarding federal Pell grants, the System overall has seen a consistent trend of about 20-22 percent of undergraduates receiving Pell grants, translating to about 60,000 of more than 300,000 students System-wide. Staff are seeing a slightly uptick so far in this fiscal year as well in Pell grant recipients.

Hyperlink to the reports released today: http://trends.collegeboard.org

Hyperlink to the college tuition tool that the Chronicle of Higher Education issued today:
http://chronicle.com/article/Interactive-Tool-Tuition-Over/125043/