University of Central Florida trustees approved raising the out-of-state fee imposed on non-resident students by 15% Thursday, following suit of universities across the state.
Last year, the State University System Board of Governors gave universities permission to raise out-of-state tuition fees by 10% for the 2025-2026 school year and another 15% for the 2026-2027 school year.
Florida out-of-state tuition could go up for first time since 2012
This year, all 12 state universities are raising the out-of-state fee by the maximum allowable: 15%. Florida Polytechnic University's increase won't take effect until January.
UCF was one of five state universities to take the state-granted opportunity to raise out-of-state tuition by 10% last year, according to a UCF compilation. Those institutions are UCF, the University of Florida, University of South Florida, Florida State University, and Florida International University, all raising the out-of-state fee by a total 25% over the two years.
Bert Francis, UCF's interim vice president and chief financial officer, emphasized that the increase there is only for undergraduate, non-Florida resident students.
"We recognize that any increase at all in the cost of attendance is meaningful to our students and their families. Recommendations like this are never made lightly, they are only brought forward when we believe that they are necessary to sustain the quality and long-term value of the educational experience we provide to our students," Francis said during the virtual meeting Thursday.
Trustees unanimously approved the measure.
For UCF, the institution estimates the change will increase revenue by $9.8 million. According to its agenda item, the money will be "specifically supporting faculty salary increases, faculty recruitment and retention, and instructional support."
A year ago
Last year, the Board of Governors gave universities a two-year window to increase the cost for out-of-state students. In doing so, the board stipulated that institutions not increase the number of out-of-state students enrolled.
Florida caps the system-wide enrollment of non-Florida students at no more than 10% of total enrollment.
The timing of approving the out-of-state fee increase for the 2026-2027 academic year varied across the system.
Florida Atlantic University, which did not increase tuition for the previous academic year, approved increasing out-of-state tuition for the 2026-2027 school year in November.
Florida Gulf Cost University, which did not raise tuition for the previous academic year, approved in January raising tuition for the coming academic year.
In January, the University of South Florida approved the out-of-state tuition increase to take effect in the fall.
UCF's approval came just more than one month before the fall semester begins.
Dylan Beaudreau, a UCF out-of-state student, suggested two alternatives to UCF trustees during public comment. First, that the increase take effect next year, giving a one-year notice as opposed to one month. Or, UCF locks in out-of-state fees for a student when he or she applies or enrolls.
"Students should not face repeated substantial increases after they've already committed to UCF and progressed far enough in their degrees that transferring would create serious academic and financial consequences," Beaudreau said.
Florida State University approved its increase last month, as did the University of Florida.
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Crunch the numbers
The increase is only to the out-of-state fee, not to tuition. When tuition is accounted for, the increase is about 11% total.
At UCF, the increase amounts to about $88 per credit hour. The change pushes the overall annual cost of attendance for out-of-state students from $24,076 a year ago to $26,732.
In 2024-2025, the non-resident annual cost of attendance was $22,467.
That's an increase of $4,265 over the two-year span.
As the Phoenix reported last year, out-of-state tuition had not increased at a Florida institution since 2012. In-state tuition has not increased since 2013. At FSU, before last year, out-of-state tuition had not increased since 2004.
Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com.
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