When the UF Board of Trustees meets on Thursday, members will decide whether to approve a 15% tuition increase for out-of-state and international students. This move would raise nonresident tuition costs by 25% in two years, leaving some students wary.
The proposal comes less than a year after UF approved a 10% increase in out-of-state and international students’ tuition. According to UF’s May 8 notice, the increase is intended to help offset rising instructional and operational costs while keeping the university competitive with peer institutions.
According to UF’s 2024-25 Common Data Set, nearly one in five first-year students come from outside Florida. The data shows international and out-of-state students compose over 12% of undergraduate students.
UF’s proposal comes amid broader state efforts to limit nonresident enrollment in public universities.
In February, the House Budget Committee approved a proposal by Rep. Jennifer Kincart Johnson, R-Lakeland, that would require Florida’s state universities to reserve 95% of new Fall enrollments for in-state students — dropping out-of-state admission from 10% to 5%.
The proposal came alongside UF’s pause on out-of-state and international transfer students. The pause was meant to last two weeks, but it’s now lasted over two months.
Lexline Johnson, a 20-year-old computer science junior, is an in-state student. She believes any tuition increase should apply only to future students rather than to current ones, she said.
“I feel like it is unfair to out-of-state students since they agreed to attend UF under the impression of a different tuition rate,” she said, “and now that tuition rate is increased, and that might not be in their budget anymore.”
Fran Edwards, a 23-year-old UF political science PhD student from Arkansas, said she believes in-state students have contributed to Florida’s economy — and should have lower tuition because of it.
Edwards said she doesn’t understand the tuition hike’s timing. It’s a decision that may force students to transfer, she added.
“I just think it’s completely unfair to pull the rug out from under so many students,” she said.
Still, the debate isn’t just about money to Edwards.
Edwards said UF should want to support a diverse student body, considering it offers such a diverse course catalogue. Since Florida is one of the most diverse places in the U.S., she said, the school should aim to have students with unique perspectives.
Edwards, who will be teaching a political science discussion section in the Fall, said students’ personal experiences can often shape classroom discussions.
“The benefits of diversity from an educational standpoint cannot be understated,” she said. “I think the state or the school wanting to limit this diversity is just in the long term going to be to the detriment of the academic integrity of the school.”
At a pre-meeting May 12, Mori Hosseini, the chair of UF’s Board of Trustees, addressed the proposal. He asked the admissions office to provide assistance to out-of-state and international students in severe need of financial assistance.
Ruchi Gali, an 18-year-old Philosophy, Politics, Economics and Law (PPEL) and psychology sophomore, is an out-of-state student from Texas.
Gali said she was surprised when she first heard the proposal, and she didn’t understand why it was suggested.
She was particularly surprised when she learned it impacted people promised one price when starting at the university, she said. Gali believes the school’s diverse student body is an attribute, she added.
“I think it’s important to have people from a lot of different states come to the school and contribute to its diversity,” Gali said.
Trustees are expected to vote on the proposal on Thursday at Emerson Alumni Hall.
Contact Swasthi Maharaj at smaharaj@alligator.org. Follow her on X @s_maharaj1611.
Swasthi Maharaj is a political science and politics, philosophy, economics and law (PPEL) junior at UF. This is Swasthi's fourth semester at The Alligator, and her third semester on the university desk. She's also reported on the enterprise desk. Swasthi loves coffee, reading, going to concerts, baking and taking long walks.
