Chancellor paints grim future for colleges

The weather outside the UCF ballroom hosting the Board of Governors meeting today is sunny and crisp, but Chancellor Mark Rosenberg painted a gloomy picture for the future of the 11-university system.

He said he expects another billion-dollar cut in the state budget before the end of the current budget year, and a billion-dollar cut for next year - both of which could mean another $200-million less for the state university system, which already lost about $100-million this summer when the state's budget fell $1-billion short.

For universities, "This could mean layoffs. This could mean reduced numbers of classes for students," Rosenberg said. "It might lead you to consider overall enrollment (not just freshmen) caps as we continue to slip and slide downward.

"We continue to dig ourselves into a deeper and deeper hole. And my apologies to students and alumna. Whatever rankings their alma mater had, that is likely to fall along with the value of their degree.”

Gov. Charlie Crist, it's worth noting, has an FSU degree.

Comments

Raise tuition and stop whining

hello moto

[J]

Stop giving free rides to first generation attending college 'diversity' students. A boy in my daughter's class nearly flunked math senior year but didn't care because he had a full scholarship to UF - first generation. All parents struggle. All parents should pay.

[Dave]

Restrict enrollment- many freshmen at USF never graduate because they don't care. They didn't have great SATs or high school GPAs, so why should we assume that they'll be top college students?

And I'm pretty upset about the falling value of my degree. I turned down some very good schools (Boston College, for instance) because of the financial isses raised by J to stay at home at USF, and now my degree will be worth less? Actually, it'll be worthless.

[Tampa Tom]

The State of Florida has changed immensely in the last 20 - 30 years. This is no longer a state of just orange groves, vacationers and transients. People have now made a serious committment to staying here year round and raising families. Education is very important to our children. It's time, Florida, to start a State income tax like 46 of the other 50 states have. Sorry, Florida is now a big time State and needs to act accordingly.

[terminator]

how bout salary cuts for overpriced university Presidents, chancellors and board of governors?
there's alot of bureaucractic fat that could be eliminated before tuition is raised on the backs of our poorest and most vulnerable students.
Machen has alot of cajones whining about how they need to raise tuition rates when the guys pulling down $400K per year now he wants a $200K bonus on top of that.
we're in a recession here guys. taxes and insurance are through the roof. the economy is sinking like quicksand.
what part of this don't you guys understand??????

I wonder how much Florida could save by repealing the Graham Amendment that created the Board of Governors. We could cut out all the overhead for the chancellor's salary, travel expenses, and the operating expenses for the board.

"as long as we cain keep 'em stoopid and unedjukated, theyll keep voting for repiglicans!"

[Mike]

I somewhat agree with Dave: Raise tuition. For one, I see numerous kids at USF doing nothing but smoking, partying, and not being productive members to society. Yes, they won't make it in the real world, but why should the federal government pay for this?( Most kids get full financial aid, but of course, blame the government, especially Bush on every issue that they feel is wrong). I feel the main Fl schools (UF, USF,Miami, FSU, UCF, etc.) are good schools, and should accept good students, who actually want to better themselves, and not taking up space. Make college something kids out of high school strive for, not simply an easy stepping stone or continuation of 13th grade. Make college exclusive, just like homeownership. If everybody has the same thing, that value decreases.
As for my Bachelors in Finance degree being worthless, maybe not yet, but eventually the new standard will be the masters.

If termie had wanted to earn $600,000 per year, he ought to have worked a little harder instead of settling for a job where he doesn't have to work and get to blog all day. They're all choices termie, and they all have consequences.

It's okay with me that the UF President can command that money because he has done something to make people want him. While we may not need the chancellors and the Board of Governors, we do need a President of the institution.

It's also okay with me that you have chosen a job worth a lot less because you decided somewhere along the line that you weren't willing to pay the price that you have to pay for the big financial payback That doesn't make you a bad person.

But the whining reflects really badly on you.

[Mike]

So if everybody who currently earns greater than $100K were capped at $100K, who would pay for all of the Fat social programs these Democrats have for people who are lazy and don't want to do anything with their life than to sit, collect welfare and complain about hard working, smart working people? After all, the top 1% and 35% of all income earners put in more than 50% of all tax revenue received. It is because of the rich and upper middle class that you have good social programs because more than half of their paycheck goes to the lower class of people. People complain about big oil and big corporations. Please. They are the ones that are keeping your museums, art, music and charities going. What about all the non profits and their fat payed executives? Thats ok because it is not for profit. BS.

Our economy is fine, maybe some slowing in real gdp output, but a recession is simply a business cycle. Our fed is not going to let a major depression happen anyway, so keep going to Las Vegas, Disney, keep buying your $300 cell phone, keep buying new bling rims for your new car, and stop complaining about the economy. Get off your butt, educate your brain, make the right choices in life and go make money for you and don't worry about other people's problems.

[john]

Just shut down the skools and turn them into Nursing Homes.

Well obviously education is key to the R's as long as you already have one. It's nice to know that I can parlay my degree into a high paying job at Wal-Mart or maybe do porn. I'm not sure which one is worse.

To add to your point about capping salaries Mike, the WSJ today reports about Danes who won't take jobs in Denmark because the marginal rate of taxation is 63% at $70,000 (in equivalent Krone). Despite the free medical care and great retirement system, ambitious young Danes are leaving because their opportunity for growth is limited. Even if they stay they don't want raises - just more time off or similar benefit - because their hard work only goes to pay for everyone else.

[A Friend of Higher Education]

Eliminate the Board of Governors, you say? Brilliant- then we'll have the universities comepeting against one another without any oversight. Since the creation of the BOG, we have had more progress improving the SUS than with the Board of Regents. Apparently, you know very little about higher education (and probably don't see the value in it). The Chancellor's travel expenses? I've been told he drives everywhere on his own dime- WOW, so expensive! Why not point the finger at the Governor who flies on his private jet everywhere?

Support higher education and keep people like you out of it!

A few easy ways to save money:
Get the tenured faculty to actually teach a full load, instead of worrying about the "publish or perish".
Use classrooms in the evenings and Fridays, to maximize use of facilities.
CUT the number of bureaucrats on campus!
CUT funding for the non-educational student-oriented programs.

[jay]

more fear and smear from overpaid govt. officials. How can a degree be "worth less"? It's a piece of paper, backed by college transcripts. Ordinary people have learned to get by on less and less each year. Maybe the state University system should try that.

[Mike]

someone wrote:"as long as we cain keep 'em stoopid and unedjukated, theyll keep voting for repiglicans!"

You should take a little time and check out some stats. People with no highschool degree are far more likely to vote democrat. Google it and see for yourself.

The admission standards for incoming freshmen in the Florida universities are higher than ever now. Mediocre students are not being admitted to schools like USF, UCF, FSU and UF. There is not enough room for indifferent students at these institutions.

The problem now is good, able, well prepared students are being turned away from admission to these schools. By necessity, Florida's community colleges are going to have to expand even more with 4 year degrees to adequately serve Florida education needs. The more established of the 11 Florida universities are bursting at the seams with outstanding students.

[Kevin]

Florida already has a brain drain problem because young professionals today want walkable cities with vibrant downtowns, not suburb and gated "communities" with rows of identical houses.
Now let our colleges suffer and you'll wonder why, with a lacking workforce, our economy suffers having no major corporations offering employment here. We're leaving in droves. And J, donors pay for first generation scholorships, not the government.

[UF Student]

I see a lot of recommendations from people that are not familiar with the Florida university system and think they know what they are talking about.

"Restrict enrollment, many freshmen at USF never graduate because they don't care."

Of course many freshman at EVERY UNIVERSITY never graduate, restricting enrollment doesn't solve this problem. Not many kids go to college thinking they won't finish.

"how bout salary cuts for overpriced university Presidents"

Do you own the Tampa Bay Devil Rays? You don't want to pay your employees to be competitive? Regardless, the state only pays for $225,000 a year, PRIVATE funding pays for the rest.

"what part of this don't you guys understand??????"

It's clear like most things, YOU don't understand.

[Jayson]

Stop dumping money into football programs and put into education. You go to college to learn not to throw a ball.

[Nick]

hmm....I have a great idea why don't you stop giving money and full ride scholarships to athletes who are not good and who aren't the smartest people. If you think about it did some of those kids on UF's football team get a 4.0 GPA, took AP and honors classes, do actual volunteer work when they were in high school? NO! Of course not, so your basically sending out a message sayin "Play sports, Less Volunteering, It won't help you out in the end."
So my advice for you is stop giving out scholarships for athletes and look into the future, because your academic based students will help you out in the long run.
Its not fair at all for first generation students either. It's not their fault their parents never got a college degree. In reality, your not helping them out either. Your forceing them out of a great experince and an education that will help them out in the future. Your limiting their abilities and talents, crushing their dreams, all because ONE person won't give our education fund any money.
Consider these factors.

[Terry]

The State of Florida and Georgia have the lowest tuition rates in the country.
Try paying $1,000.00 a credit for undergrad classes at St. John's University in Jamaica, Queens, NYC.
Florida students....."Welcome to reality". As my Dad would say "Get a part-time/full-time job, cause I ain't paying your tuition".
The kids in Eastlake H.S. in Palm Harbor all drive BMW's, don't work, and make fun of their poverty-level geeky-friends who have to work at McDonald's to survive.
I say, raise tuition and make all these spoiled rotten kids work 20-30 hours part-time, so they develop a work ethic and welcome them to REALITY.

[Don]

Eliminating Football is not the answer. The University Athletic Association for the University of Florida has given back millions to the school. Most of that revenue was generated from the football team. If you eliminate football, you would have to eliminate all the sports because football feeds them all!

[Don]

Also, The scholarships provided to Athletes at the University of Florida are payed for by the UAA using funds generated from all sports, but mainly the football team. Tax payers are not footing the bill for the athletic scholarships.

[Bob]

Raise tuition for out of state students. Keep it lower for in state students. Raising tuition will only squeeze the middle class parents and students. The poor can get grants and aid. The rich really don't care how much it cost.

[terminator]

Terry:
apparently you aren't familiar with the FL pre-paid tuition plan and Bright Futures scholarship program.
My daughters have both.
I have faithfully paid each and every month for eighteen years in order to lock in tuition at 1988 prices.
My daughters were both good students and qualified for the Bright Futures scholarship as well which pays tuition and books.
If those parents sacrificed all those years and their children academically performed then they have every right to drive those beemers.
As an educator with thirty some years in the Florida public education system, I consider those two policies and the class size reduction amendment as the best policy initiatives ever implemented in the state since I've been here (1976).
You don't sound like you know much about Florida higher education.

[who?]

i dont see what the problem is in florida. i am a florida resident but attend college in illinois. tuition at my school is nearly 500 dollars a credit hour, compared to a little over 120 a credit hour in florida. RAISE TUITION. i also dont understand why people in college do not attend college due to financial reasons. it is definitely possible to attend college without scholarships and pay for it by having just a part time job. STOP BEING LAZY. if you can't afford to pay tuition then there are grants for you so that you would get PAID to go to college. florida has a mess of an education system!

[Terry]

Terminator.....I'm familiar with both the pre-paid tuition plan and the bright future scholarship program. I've been here since 1997 and paid my OWN WAY for college. My parents are both DEAD. I worked 35 hours a week to pay my tuition, rent, books, and canned SPAM. I took the bus to both school and work, since I had no car, and got it done without a student loan or government assistance.
Today, I am gainfully employed, well-educated, and well paid. All of this is due to me being responsible and ACTUALLY WORKING WHILE PAYING MY OWN WAY in Florida. Today, I don't drive a BMW, because I keep my money in my own country, city, state, and city.
As John Gruden would say
'Jimminy Christmas". Just pay the tuition hike CHUMP. Florida tuition is still the deal of the century.

[(Mr) Bill]

I teach future teachers at USF. A lot of my "spoiled rotten" students ARE already working more than 20-30 hours per week to pay for their schooling. A student teacher I supervise is working as a restaurant server on weekends and holidays on top of being in his school from 7 a.m. to 4 or 5 p.m. every day. He has grading and preparation to do at home every night, plus homework to do for a required student-teaching seminar.

Comments, folks?

Raise tuition. Higher education is not an entitlement needing taxpayer subsidy.

8:35...Get real! If we didn't have public education in America, including taxpayer supported higher education, the nation would collapse.

Mr. Bill, Good for your hard working student. It is good training for his future.

Sadly, when he becomes a teacher, he will probably have to continue the same regimen of working an extra 20-30 hrs at a 2nd job to keep his head above water financially.

[HomeSkooled]

No real loss. They ain't learn'n noth'n anyway.

MAybe if Rosenburg had the ability generate an idea to improve our universities that did not begin and end with "more money" we would be in better shape and he would not have to be so pessimistic about one of the best university systems in the country. I fo rone am tired of hearing him whine CONSTANTLY about needing more money and in the process demeaning everyone who works hard every day to make UF, FSU, USF, UCF and all the others top-rated in so many areas and respectedx throughout the nation. We need a believer as Chancellor, not a whining loser.

[terminator]

terry:
congrats to you.

so you more than anyone can identify with the struggles that many young people have to deal with. the last thing in the world they need is a tuition increase so some up and coming Florida school can build a new state of the art football stadium while the President of a public institution wants to compete against Harvard and Yale for his own ego gratification.

while I've enjoyed my share of spam sandwiches as well (actually it's pretty good sauteed in a frying pan with a little butter and cheese on top), I hope that you wouldn't resign a new generation to enjoying the culinary cuisine of that American icon. What in the heck's in that stuff anyway? Don't think we want to know.

keep tuition affordable. Florida doesn't need to join the ivy league at the expense of it's most vulnerable students.

let Machen, TK and Genshaft forfeit some of their hefty salaries before we force another young person to work another ten hours a week making minimum wage just so they can pay the tuition increase.

Good termie. UF has 35,000+ students. Let them all save $10 each by cutting the President's salary to what you think is right. Makes a big difference for them - Right?

[Steve]

Well, the easiest thing to do would be to shutdown UCF. It spends more money than it should and from the top down has a problem with it's image. UCF (from the administration to the students) thinks it's harvard, but it is really just the next step after valencia junior college.

[Kevin]

Thankfully we have big time football teams to keep our universities funded!

Obvious solution: Cut the sales tax to 4% and implement a state income tax, like most other states. this is no longer a state of transients and tourists. The make-up of our state has changed, so to should its financing.

[the truth]

Terry,
So if you keep your money in America, I assume you drive a Honda Civic. The car with the most America made parts of any car. LOL
Congrats to you for you efforts, though.

Even though I have 3 college students, I still agree with those that feel tuition should be raised. Doubled, our rates would still be considered a bargain on a national level. Throw in the pre-paid program and bright futures and it's a real steal. Even the poorest of the poor can get bright futures.
Higher education is not a right, but something that can be earned by anyone with the right work ethic.
I also agree that the football programs not only fund themselves, but other school programs. Being envious of those programs is ignorant. Many students get into all colleges that they might not have, based on academics alone, because they can offer something special. Some have average grades, but great SATs, some play musical instruments, some athletes... These students are rewarded for thier hard work and talents too. That's life. BTW, many athletes are capable of being accepted to their schools without their sport. The most successful schools concentrate on all of this. Who wants to go to a school that doesn't?
My last point is agreement with the publish or perish problem. Prof's shouldn't whine about their salaries until they give their full-time salaried jobs (teaching) full time hours. Yes, there are some that do, but many are full of themselves and feel entitled to giving part time attention to their students. How would your boss feel about paying you a full time salary while you moonlighted and let some intern (in their case, an undergraduate or graduate assistant) do your job? The primadonnas need to earn their keep or go. A huge percentage of them have never worked outside of a classroom. Kindergaten all the way to Professor. They need an introduction to the real world.

[terminator]

1:18
truth:
your argument regarding college athletic programs funding themselves is the furthest thing from the truth.

in fact most don't. only some of the top programs in the country can underwrite and subsidize all the other sports programs offered (male and female, revenue producing and non-revenue producing).

Only Florida and FSU would fall into that category based on the financial success of their football programs.

all the other Florida state universities run deficits in their athletic program meaning they must be propped up by student activity fees.

you can gussy the pig up all you want but the bottom line is most of these athletic programs are money losers for their institutions and a drag on the bottom line.

[Paul D. Harvill]

It would be fair to say that FSU degrees conferred in the 1970s and 1980s are "worth less" than the ones nowadays.

Admission requirements were certainly lower then than nowadays.

On the other hand, degrees conferred in the 1970s and 1980s have little relevance to most employers in the 21st century.

What counts is the work done nowadays. The degree was primarily a means to get through the door.

Footnote: My FSU degree is dated 1977.

Here is a novel idea- Why don't we actually put state money into our universities--oh yeah, that's right, a sales tax exemption for college skyboxes and super bowl tickets are more important.