The University of Central Florida’s rival to the west, the University of South Florida, is in somewhat of a panic mode right now.
USF’s budget would be slashed by nearly 60 percent, under a plan proposed by Senator J.D. Alexander.
The State University System as a whole is suffering a big cut, but USF officials told the Tampa Bay Times the budget seems “to single out USF, which is being asked to absorb about 20 percent of the cuts to the entire university system.”
USF says its cuts are worse than other state schools.
While USF is facing a nearly 60 percent cut, the University of Florida is only facing a 26 percent slashing, while FSU is only facing a 22 percent cut, USF told the Times.
KnightNews.com is working to find out how much UCF’s budget may be slashed, and whether UCF will stand to benefit from USF taking on more of the burden.
Watch the video from NBC NewsChannel 8 in Tampa for more details:
USF President Judy Genshaft, who previously drew fury from UCF Knights for trying to block UCF’s entrance into the Big East, before ultimately helping UCF enter, held an emergency meeting over the issue yesterday. USF supporters suggest USF is being targeted because it is resisting Sen. Alexander’s push to grant USF’s Polk County Polytechnic campus independence as its own university.
KnightNews.com will monitor the situation and post updates on how this higher education funding battle could impact UCF.
It was predicted that this USF Poly issue could result in a slashing to USF’s budget – and possibly a slashing to higher ed in Florida overall. See the report from WTSP News 10 in Tampa for more background on this battle, that WTSP suggest could impact all state universities:
