Tuition Trends at High and Very High Public Research Universities, 1999-2009
Author: Micceri, Theodore
Date: 2010-03-00
Type: Numerical/Quantitative Data
Subjects: Tuition,Research Universities,Public Colleges,Educational Trends,Undergraduate Students,Graduate Students,In State Students,Student Costs,Comparative Analysis,Enrollment Trends,State Aid

Historically, Florida has emphasized access for citizens in setting undergraduate resident tuition for the State University System (SUS). Figure 3 and Figure 6 depict the long-term effects of this, as Florida's undergraduate resident tuition and required fees, among high (RUH) and very high (RUVH) public research universities, have remained second lowest in the nation to Wyoming from 1999 through 2009. Florida has sought to somewhat offset the detrimental income effect of this with higher charges for other students, however, this is not very effective because resident undergraduates tend to make up roughly 60-80% of all students at most RUH/RUVH universities, further, as Figure 5 suggests, the increase in non-resident tuition and fees, likely combined with the effects of increasing HOPE-type scholarships (Micceri, 2009), associated with a 50% reduction in non-resident undergraduate students at Florida's six RUH/RUVH institutions between AY 2001 and 2009 and a comparatively flat trend in non-resident  graduate students at all Florida institutions except the University of Florida. Table 1 shows that ten year national mean annual tuition and fee increases for such institutions are respectively 10.8% for undergraduate residents, 9.6% for undergraduate non-residents, 10% for graduate residents and 8.5% for graduate non-residents. Florida's SUS increases are close to these at respectively 8.8%, 9.6%, 11.6% and 8.1%. This 10.8% is somewhat greater than the 8.8% per annum increases that occurred between 1976 and 1996. Figure 1 displays the slope difference in 20-year cost increases between the annual 8.8% between 1976 and 1996, and the 10.8% over the past 10 years, which will associate with an increase of over 700% during the same time period (1999 through 2019), that a 500% increase occurred between 1976 and 1996 (Micceri, 2008). Figure 2, copied from Micceri (2008), shows one important cause for the substantial tuition and fee increases public universities have exhibited recently. Between AY 1984 and 2003, state funding dropped from 62% to 38% of total USF expenditures, while research funding increased from about 15% to almost 40%, which largely offset the loss of state revenue. Tuition remained flat, near 15%, because Florida has very low tuition and fee costs for resident undergraduates who, as noted earlier, make up the bulk of students. This trend reflects national trends, as reduced state support for public higher education has occurred in every state over the past 20 to 30 years. However, unlike Florida, most states have chosen to offset this through increased tuition and fees. Unfortunately, this reduced state revenue trend is currently exacerbated by the rather severe revenue shortfalls that almost every state experiences today. These factors suggest that future public college students may be limited primarily to affluent sources. The trends displayed in this paper suggest that, with the exception of resident undergraduate student tuition and required fees, Florida's costs to students are very close to national averages for RUH and RUVH universities and also, that over the past 10 years, Florida's tuition and fee increases are comparatively close to national averages. However, the fact that roughly 80% of Florida's students at SUS research universities are paying at or near the lowest tuition and fees in the nation, combined with the steady decreasing state support displayed in Figure 2, helps explain why Florida's SUS institutions are among the most poorly supported in the nation. (Contains 2 footnotes, 7 figures, and 3 tables.