Out-of-state students at the University of South Florida will have to pay roughly $40 more per credit hour starting this fall.
USF’s Board of Trustees approved the 10% increase to its out-of-state fee during a special meeting Thursday, following several other state universities that did the same.
Student body president Sumit Jadhav abstained from the vote, citing a conflict of interest. The remaining trustees voted for the change.
As an international student, Jadhav pays out-of-state tuition and will be affected by the fee increase.
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The Board of Governors approved a policy in June allowing Florida’s State University System schools to increase this fee up to 10% this year and up to 15% next year.
Florida State University, University of Florida and Florida International University approved the increase for their out-of-state students this month. The University of Central Florida also voted to increase its fee on Thursday.
At USF’s meeting, Graduate Assistants United president Tessa Barber said the increase will put extra strain on students’ already-tight budgets.
Trustee David Simmons suggested that USF consider giving current graduate students a stipend to help them deal with the unexpected tuition increase.
“Are there ways that we can use some of these funds to increase support for our grad students who are in financial distress?" he asked Chair Will Weatherford.
Weatherford said the request would need to be considered at a future board meeting.
"It's not cheap to run a public university, and we're heavily subsidizing out-of-state students,” he said. “So just trying to find the balance here."
Weatherford said it was a tough year for universities to get state and federal funding, making this increase necessary.
The change will add roughly $5 million more in revenue for USF, which has not increased its out-of-state fee since 2012.
Undergraduate students will now pay $381.15 per credit hour, up nearly $35 from last semester. Graduate students will pay $466.97 per credit hour – about a $42 increase.
The fee increase will not affect in-state students’ tuition. Weatherford said this is because Florida taxes subsidize their educations.
