FSU Increases Out-of-State Student Costs

By The News Service of Florida

Florida State University on Thursday joined the University of Florida in approving plans to increase costs for out-of-state students during the upcoming academic year.

The FSU Board of Trustees approved 10 percent increases in fees that are charged to out-of-state students on top of the tuition charged to all students. The University of Florida Board of Trustees approved a similar proposal Wednesday. The increases will not affect students who are Florida residents. FSU officials said such fees and tuition have not been increased in more than a decade, while the costs of operating the university have risen.

“The bottom line is we have to figure out how to move the university forward,” Board of Trustees Chairman Peter Collins said. “And when you don’t raise tuition for 14 years and you’re doing more, and everything costs more, you know, there’s not a lot of levers we can pull. Everybody wants in-state tuition to be as affordable as possible. But on the out-of-state tuition, many of these people are coming to Florida State at fractions of what their own in-state tuition is.”

The FSU and UF decisions came after the state university system’s Board of Governors last month approved allowing universities to increase out-of-state student fees. Kyle Clark, FSU’s senior vice president for finance and administration, said Florida A&M University, Florida International University, the University of South Florida and the University of Central Florida are considering similar increases.