(This story has been updated to correct an inaccuracy.)
The University of Florida Board of Trustees on July 23 unanimously approved the university’s first increase to out-of-state tuition in more than a decade due to “rising education costs.”
The trustees voted for a 10% increase, the maximum allowed following a ruling on June 18 by the Board of Governors, which oversees the state’s 12 public universities. Florida State University trustees are expected to vote on a similar increase on July 24.
The University of Florida’s decision, effective this fall, is in response to a budget shortfall of about $130 million due to a loss in state appropriations, as outlined by UF’s interim Chief Financial Officer Nick Kozlov.
Kozlov’s presentation to the board included a slide that shows even with the increase, UF’s out-of-state tuition will remain more than $10,000 lower than its peers.
“This board should be proud that UF is providing students with an exceptional education that is by far the most affordable among the top seven (public universities),” board Chair Mori Hosseini said. “We also want to make sure that our in-state students are not supplementing the exceptional education we provide to our out-of-state students.”
Hosseini amended the final motion to include a one-year-waiver for current out-of-state students who can show the increase will cause “significant financial hardship.”
Hosseini said Mary Parker, UF’s vice president and chief enrollment strategist, will have the final say on all waiver requests.
The change will increase out-of-state tuition from $707.21 per credit hour to $777.93. for undergraduate students. Graduate students seeking law degrees from UF’s Levin College of Law will see their annual tuition increase from $15,462 to just over $17,000.
UF Police Department contract
Trustees also gave final approval to an agreement reached with the Florida Police Benevolent Association that will see the university’s officers, lieutenants and sergeants receive a $13,000 raise. The raise bumps the starting annual base pay for UFPD officers to $64,000.
Officers’ previous base starting pay of about $51,000 was the lowest in the State University System.
Police communications officers (PCOs) were given a raise of $8,875 a year. Officers and PCOs also will receive a 3% raise in both their second and third years.
The contract will be retroactive to July 1, 2025, and run through June 30, 2028.
UF interim president
Despite the tenure of interim UF President Kent Fuchs expected to come to an end on July 31, no replacement or extension was announced during the meeting.
Fuchs has served in the interim roll since the sudden resignation of then-President Ben Sasse after just 17 months on the job. Fuchs previously served as the full-time UF president from 2015 to 2023.
“As we have discussed, we’re looking for an interim president for a period of time, and then hopefully we’ll start a new search this coming year,” Hosseini said. “We’ll get back and have another meeting on this once we know the direction we are going”
UF is expected to have a new president in place in June, however, the Board of Governors stunned the university community when it voted against the confirmation of Dr. Santa Ono, formerly the president of the University of Michigan, as the University of Florida’s 14th president.
The decision seemed to be more about politics than academics. It was the first time in the history of the board that it voted down a university trustee board’s leadership selection.
Fuchs, following the announcement of Ono as the university’s sole presidential finalist, called him a “dream candidate.”
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: UF BOT approves increase to out-of-state tuition; plans for next interim president unknown
Reporting by Alan Festo, Gainesville Sun / The Gainesville Sun
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