An effort to further limit the number of out-of-state and international students at top Florida universities drew House support Tuesday.
But while the bill (HB 1279) was approved 84-25 in the Republican-controlled chamber, it hasn’t made any traction in the Senate with less than two weeks remaining in the schedule for the regular session.
Bill sponsor Rep. Jennifer Kincart Jonsson, R-Lakeland, said the measure is “Florida first, plain and simple,” and ensures “that more of our Florida's best and brightest have the opportunity to start right here at home.”
“Families are asking why some of our highest achieving students, students at the very top of their graduating classes, are struggling to gain admission to the very universities their tax dollars support,” Kincart Jonsson added.
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The proposal requires preeminent state universities to reserve 95% of new fall undergraduate enrollments to students from Florida, an increase to the current 90% requirement for all universities.
The University of Florida, Florida State University, University of South Florida, and Florida International University are designated as preeminent state research universities. The University of Central Florida is expected to be certified by the Board of Governors as a preeminent state research university later this year.
Democrats argued the proposal will lower revenue as many out-of-state students pay higher tuition rates than Florida students, while also making the system less attractive to the brightest students.
Rep. Gallop Franklin, D-Tallahassee, agreed Florida students should be given priority admissions, but only when they offer exactly the same profile as out-of-state students.
“When you look at states like Massachusetts, you know you have Harvard and (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) all in that area. The reason why the economy is thriving and growing from venture capital companies, biotechnology companies, because it is a brain environment,” Franklin said. “So, what we don't want to do here in Florida is not have the best and brightest students from across the entire globe having access to go to school here in Florida.”
Kincart Jonsson said the loss of out-of-state fees to preeminent universities is projected at about 0.2% of the $17 billion operating budget for those schools. That would be about $34 million a year.
Under the bill, schools that fail to maintain the 95% average starting in 2030 would be ineligible for preeminent funding.
The bill also restricts non-U.S. citizen enrollment to no more than 5% from any one country at each state university.
Last year, the trustees for the University of Florida and Florida State University were quick to increase costs for out-of-state students by 10% after the state university system’s Board of Governors agreed to allow its schools to increase student fees on those who aren’t from Florida.
