USF trustees approve differential tuition, on-campus housing requirement

The University of South Florida Board of Trustees made two big changes today: raising tuition and requiring incoming freshman who live outside of the Tampa Bay area to live on campus.

Trustees passed a “differential tuition” bill, which allows USF to charge in-state undergraduates as much as 30 percent more than the base tuition rate, as long as tuition doesn’t increase more than 15 percent in any one year. The differential will only be applied to courses taken on the Tampa campus.

The base tuition rate is currently $73.71 per credit hour, or $2,211 annually for a full-time student taking 30 credits a year. Under differential tuition bill, students could be charged as much as $84.76 per credit hour next year or about $2, 543 a year for a full-time student.

Trustee Jan E. Smith asked that the Sarasota/Manatee campus be included in the tuition hike, saying it could mean almost half-a-million additional dollars in revenue over four years. However, other trustees argued that the intent of the hike was to benefit research institutions, and that USF's satellite campuses were not included in the study when determining the hike.

USF's other campuses "play an important role for the community at large," said Dr. Kiran Patel, who sits on the board. "(But) everybody can not afford the higher fees we want to charge."

The move to require students to live on campus was made without discussion. It requires First Time in College (FTIC) students who live outside of Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties to reside in on-campus university housing.

- Phuong Nguyen, Times staff writer

Comments

[Will]

I can't say I'm a fan of this, but will probably help the University in the long run. Everybody else is raising their prices, USF is just following the trend. I'm guessing FLA Bright Futures qualifications are going to get a little tougher as well.

[Dave W]

The on-campus housing is a great development. I thought it really helped me get involved and meet a lot of people in my freshman year. It will really help spur the development of our community, as well as to help reduce the antiquated notion that we are a "commuter school."

[David B.]

This is a still an incredible bargain! I am a graduate student and certainly would not mind a tuition increase, esp. when you consider what a private university would charge.