In a series of letters to the chairs of each state university’s board of trustees, Gov. Rick Scott on Friday reiterated his opposition to any tuition increase for the coming school year, reports the News Service of Florida.
The letters come as schools work toward putting in place their budgets for the 2013-14 year — which could include requests to the Florida Board of Governors for tuition increases — and amid questions about a state law that appears to provide for an automatic tuition increase to account for inflation, currently estimated at 1.7 percent. Scott has already vetoed a 3 percent tuition increase approved by the Legislature. “I want to be clear on this: we absolutely will fight to hold the line on tuition in Florida,” Scott wrote. “This would be a tax increase on our families that must be stopped. We don’t want a three percent increase or even a one percent increase in tuition on our students.” State law, though, says that “the resident undergraduate tuition per credit hour shall increase at the beginning of each fall semester at a rate equal to inflation, unless otherwise provided in the General Appropriations Act.” It doesn’t specify what happens if a tuition increase included in the budget by lawmakers is vetoed.
