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2015-16 Florida State University Tuition: Where Our Money Goes

Landis Hall FSU 2013 09 05 16 16
Landis Hall FSU 2013 09 05 16 16

This article comes from the Campus Contributor Network. Over the course of the semester, students from across our campus outreach program will analyze their school’s finances and assess the overall return students see on their educational investments.

As the cost of college continues to rise, the price of tuition is becoming a tough pill to swallow for many students and their families. But once a student pays FSU their tuition money, how does the university spend it? Where does it go?

Why tuition keeps rising

There is a mix of factors affecting tuition pricing.

As states have pulled back on financing public universities, those institutions have been forced to make up the revenue in the form of higher student fees. This, in turn, has left many students and their families struggling to afford a college education.

At the same time, federal financial aid distributions to students have increased.

It’s quite possible that these two factors are linked. Knowing that students receive this aid, universities might feel as though students can cover the increases in tuition costs.

Ironic, isn’t it? The very thing put in place to make college more affordable may be adding fuel to the price-hike fire.

Tuition by the numbers

Buckle your seat belts readers; this next stat might throw you for a loop.

2015-16 Florida State University tuition and fees for two semesters (30 credit hours) is $6,507. Just 10 years ago, that total was $3,307. That is a 96.8 percent increase. Holy inflation Batman!

According to FSU’s tuition breakdown, in-state students pay roughly $215 per credit hour and that number goes up to $721 for out-of-state students. The breakdown provides an in-depth allocation of all fees and what those fees help fund.

Fortunately for some, Florida State University employs some tuition discounting practices for qualifying students. For example, any homeless student pursuing an undergraduate degree may be eligible to have their tuition waived. Among other circumsatnces, if your parent was a member of law enforcement and killed in the line of duty, your tuition may also be waived.

Last year, revenue from tuition and fees totaled almost $195 million, or roughly 36 percent of revenue for Education and General appropriations. The remainder of the E&G revenue came from general revenues ($306 million) and a lottery system ($37 million).

The E&G bucket of expenses covers several different costs. These include everything from your professors’ salaries to campus maintenance.

On a positive note

I was quite surprised to see what FSU has recently been doing to help students. While we have seen a big jump in tuition costs over the last decade, the university has not increased base tuition since 2013.

The fact alone that base tuition has not risen in several years is great to hear. Additionally, students are welcome to apply for several scholarships which are available through the Office of Financial Aid.

This year, Florida State was given over $79 million in research-based performance bonuses by the state. While bonuses like this may not be the direct cause of tuition stagnation over the past few years, it has certainly freed up some of the university’s funds. Yeah science!

Takeaway

Given all this, it’s fair to say Florida State University has fair tuition pricing and spends our tuition dollars in a way that benefits the student body. I, for one, get a pretty good education, and I see several of my peers doing phenomenally well with the resources provided to them.

Now all I need to do is get the job when I graduate; how hard can it be?

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