Florida to Cap College Enrollment

The board of Governors has instructed Florida's Public State Universities to cap freshman enrollment at 38,300 statewide for the fall of 2008. This is due to the new property tax cuts proposed by Governor Charlie Crist. While he states that the tax cuts will help first time home buyers and bring more home owners into the state of Florida, he fails to mention the rippling effect these cuts will have.

Education seems to be taking the hardest hit. The Governor has order not only the freshmen cap; but has also instructed colleges to cut 4% from their current budgets and to prepare for budget cuts up to 10% until the effect of the tax cut is known. What this means is, hiring freezes, cutting courses, and no salary increases for staff. In addition colleges will need special permission for tuition increases that would help offset the cost of these cuts. Governor Crist recently vetoed a 5% tuition increase. Public colleges depend on state funding to run, tuition charges cover only a quarter of the cost of a baccalaureate degree. Public colleges run the risk of losing some of their faculty due to contracts not being renewed or instructors leaving due to no salary increases.

It seems unbelievable that education could be put at risk like this. Colleges are seeing an increase in student enrollment due to more people realizing the benefits of a college education. One has to wonder what the Governor is thinking and what if any long term projections have been done to evaluate the effects of these cuts and caps. Florida's 28 community colleges have said they will not cap enrollment and will reach out to encourage those students who have been denied enrollment in the state universities to attend their campuses. However, the community colleges are also being hit with the 4% required budget cuts so it remains to be seen if they will be able to handle extra students without being able to hire additional staff and faculty to meet the increase.

While, everyone would like to have their taxes cuts it seems impossible to understand how this proposed property tax is going to benefit anyone. Along with colleges being told to budget cut, county and state agencies are also included in this scenario. Layoffs and hiring freezes are taking jobs away from the public. Less police, ambulance drivers, and firemen will be hired. It appears that the only people that will be able to afford living in sunny Florida will be the retirees and the rich and famous. I personally lost a 20,000 a year job due to the hiring freeze, but I guess I should be happy for I get to save 174.00 on my property taxes.