The cost of a college education is rising--fast. The latest increase at the University of Florida gained traction Thursday.
The university's Educational Policy and Strategy Committee, unanimously voted to increase student fees by 25 percent. Made into law in the 2010 Legislative session, the "Higher Education Conforming Bill" gives all state universities, a one-time opportunity to raise local fees.
The increase applies to the fees students pay toward health and wellness, activity and service, and athletics. Currently, UF students pay about $23 dollars per credit hour for those fees every semester. Next year, they will cost students closer to $28.
For the average student , that will be an extra sixty to seventy bucks per semester, but for the university the increase in fees is expected to generate over six million dollars every semester.
"The feeling was, we better take advantage of this while we can because we already know that funding is difficult at best, and particularly bad with the economy the way it is," said university spokesperson, Steve Orlando.
For the increase to take effect, it must still be approved by the Board of Trustees Friday. What exactly is being done with the money is still up for discussion, but possibilities include improving mental health care for students, as well as providing a stable money source for graduate student health insurance.