Gov. Rick Scott just wrapped up an appearance at UCF, where he spoke in opposition of raising tuition.
All the Florida Universities are fighting to raise tuition, including UCF and its SGA President Cortez Whatley, who contend a maximum 15 percent increase is needed to maintain the value of UCF’s degree in the wake of massive state budget cuts. State lawmakers have countered that UCF has massive amounts of money sitting in reserves that should be used instead of the tuition hikes.
KnightNews.com is carrying live video of the Board of Governor’s meeting on the UCF campus, when available:
(See a replay of Hitt’s comments at the bottom of this story.)
KnightNews.com also spoke with parents of new UCF students at last week’s orientation. One mom, who the tuition hikes are impacting, told us how she’s struggling with the recent tuition hikes.
It’s very expensive … which really is hard on our budget. We’re scraping pennies together to get him to school,” the mom told KnightNews.com. “But we’ll deal with it. I’ll do anything I have to. I’ll sell myself on the street if I have to to get him here to college, because that’s his dream — that’s what he wants to do. He wants to go to UCF, so that’s what we’re going to do.”
See the video of the UCF parents speaking out on the burden skyrocketing tuition is placing on their families.
Check back to KnightNews.com for updates on how the BOG meeting goes. As we’ve been reporting, it starts today and ends on Thursday. See our related stories on the right for more information and video, including comments Chancellor Frank Brogan told our cameras about how tough it will be for these 15 percent tuition hikes to pass.
Replay of President Hitt’s comments to the Board of Governors on UCF’s plan:
