Tuition proposed by Central Fla. lawmakers benefits UCF

You knew this was coming.

Sen. Lee Constantine, UCF graduate, and Winter Garden Rep. Steve Precourt, have proposed a change to last year's "differential tuition" bill that would immediately benefit UCF, the mammoth university located in the lawmakers' Central Florida region.

The differential tuition bill as it stands allows UF, USF and FSU to charge between 30 and 40 percent above the base undergraduate, in-state tuition. It gives those institutions the privilege based on their state lead in the areas of research dollars, doctoral degrees awarded, graduation rates and other success factors.

Constantine and Precourt propose a tweak that extends the differential to any university that brings in $100-million or more a year in research dollars.

UCF, no coincidence, received a record $121.4 million in outside research funding in the 2006-07 budget year -- an 18 percent hike from the year before. The number will only grow as UCF's fledgling medical school gets going.