Although the price of attending college may be rising nationally, it will now be about $4,000 cheaper to get a bachelor’s degree in Gainesville.
Santa Fe College announced that starting in the Fall 2014 semester, students will be able to obtain a bachelor’s degree for $10,000 or less.
The change is part of a challenge from Gov. Rick Scott, who announced the plan in November 2012. The cost of a bachelor’s degree from Santa Fe is currently $14,455 for in-state students, according to http://www.sfcollege.edu.
“We think (the challenge is) the right thing to do,” said David Houder, director of communications at Santa Fe College. “We’re all about making education affordable and we’re trying to address this and help people advance in their careers.”
Santa Fe is one of 23 colleges in the Florida College System that have all accepted the challenge. The Florida College System includes all state and community colleges in Florida.
The first degree that will be offered in the program will be a degree in organizational management with other degrees expected to be added in the future, Houder said.
Not only will the program allow for more Santa Fe students to be able to afford degrees, it may help to increase the number of students who attend Santa Fe.
“My original plan was to transfer to UF after two years,” said 19-year-old Santa Fe health science second-year Brian Sheehan. “Now that Santa Fe is a lot cheaper, it makes more sense for me to just stay here.”
Students won’t be able to simply just sign up for the program, though. A student must have a grade point average of 2.5, be in-state and have a good academic standing, according to Houder.
The challenge will only reduce the cost of tuition. The plan will not lower the costs of textbooks, living and other expenses.
“Any amount of money that I can save will help,” said 19-year-old Santa Fe exercise and sports science first-year Tiffany Pagliazzo. “Knowing that I can invest that money in other areas will allow me to focus more on school and less on the expenses.”
Although the plan won’t go into effect for another year, Houder said Santa Fe feels that the program is something that is necessary for education to move forward.
“Everyone has an eye on making education affordable and getting an affordable degree and advancing,” Houder said.
A version of this story ran on page 8 on 9/23/2013 under the headline "Santa Fe to meet Gov. Scott’s $10,000 bachelor degree challenge"
