The proposed 2012-2013 state university budget cuts have came out–and it doesn’t look good for UCF.
Previously, we reported that USF had massive budget cuts, but now, UCF is facing a $52.6 million cut compared to USF’s $36.9 million, a Sun-Sentinel analysis shows. Currently, the University of Central Florida is going to receive the second largest budget cut in the state, only behind Florida State University which will receive a whopping $65.8 million cut.
For UCF students this means a lofty hike in tuition, roughly 15 percent, is expected. The numbers would look somewhat like a $5,626 to $6,301 increase for university students in Florida, the Sun-Sentinel reports.
Students on Bright Future scholarships will not see their financial aid decreased, but with the tuition hikes, Bright Futures will cover less. It is interesting to note that the top scholarship, which once covered 100 percent of tuition will cover less than half for the upcoming fall semester.
Students on Florida pre-paid will not see their account effected as long as they bought their prepaid plan before February 1st, 2007. That’s according to the Sun-Sentinel, which reports that those who bought their pre-paid plan between Feb. 1 2007 and January 2010 may only be partially covered for tuition and those who bought after October 2010 will also be fully covered.
We reached out to UCF’s Associate Vice-President of Communications and Public Affairs Grant Heston who told us, “It is safe to assume we will seek Board of Trustees’ and, if they agree, Board of Governors’ approval for a 15 percent differential tuition increase. As you know, differential tuition is more restrictive than base tuition in how it can be used, and 30 percent goes directly toward need-based financial aid. It will help, but not come close to making up the difference in the budget cut.”
Heston went on to tell us that UCF is still in deliberation analysis of the budget cuts.
