Florida's official tuition hike...and what do do about it

It's gonna cost how much?

From the "Insult to Injury Department," Florida's state universities are going to cost more. A lot more.

Governor Charlie Crist signed into law a 15% tuition increase for all state universities, to compensate for a budget shortfall faced by the state university system. The same shortfall that forced classes and faculty, administrative layoffs, larger student-faculty ratios, lower professor salaries and frozen enrollment.

The annual 15% increase will continue until Florida’s tuition, currently the lowest in the nation, is on par with the national average. This will take years to achieve, if it ever is, so we can expect a 15% yearly increase for the foreseeable future.

Great. what about Bright Futures?

To make matters worse, the Bright Futures scholarship program will not cover the increase. Parents with high achieving kids will now have to fork over the difference created by the tuition hike.

At the same time, Stanley Tate, acknowledged as the "father" of Florida Pre-Paid College program (it's named after him), warned that the tuition increase will kill the pre-paid program, making college unaffordable for Florida’s families. He's spent a reported $500K in full page newspaper ads urging consituents to oppose the tuition hikes, but to no avail.

So what's the best way to deal with these official college cost increases? Through the financial aid system.

Strangely, more than 53% of eligible families never even apply for financial aid! Yes, you read that right - more than half of families that deserve financial aid never even bother to apply!

Why? Here's a clue, directly from the lips of Secretary of Education Arne Duncan (Harvard grad and Obama pickup hoops buddy): "You basically need a Ph.D to figure that thing out."

What's "Jump Shot Arne" talking about? The FAFSA - the federal form used to apply for aid. A lot of parents are intimidated by that form. It's long and complicated and full of landmines, so we understand.

But "College Pete" and I think there's one more, big reason why most eligible families don't bother to apply. It's because they think they won't qualify, because they're middle class families. That's just flat out wrong, but this letter is long enough already so we won't get into it.

Here's the bottom line - your "College Bailout" has been right under your nose the whole time - the Financial Aid system. Everyone should apply for financial aid. Period.

Best,

"College Pete" and Andy


P.S. We host free community workshops for parents of college-bound teens. If you’re stressed about how you’re going to cope with rising college costs, you owe it yourself to come. We'll go over the "secret formula" used by the FAFSA to determine how much aid you'll receive, and whether you can improve your odds. Register at:

www.collegeplanningadvice.com/events

P.P.S. Bring a friend if you like! Just forward this blog onto them.