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Universities To Consider Reducing Enrollment

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By ADAM EMERSON, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 23, 2008

Updated: 01/22/2008 11:55 pm

TAMPA - The budget pain afflicting Florida's public universities is just starting.

During its meeting Thursday in Tallahassee, the panel that oversees the 11 state universities is set to discuss admitting fewer students next fall.

That means thousands of applicants could find it harder gaining entry at a time when universities are setting the admissions bar higher and higher. State university system Chancellor Mark Rosenberg told university presidents in a letter Tuesday that he will ask the Board of Governors to "make necessary changes in its admissions policies."

A $1 billion state budget shortfall this fiscal year has many universities, such as the University of South Florida and Florida State University, considering layoffs. Although each school has said it might consider cutting enrollment, the Board of Governors could make that a reality.

"You can't continue to take multimillion-dollar budget cuts without serious repercussions," Board of Governors spokesman Bill Edmonds said.

Prospective students with applications pending may feel those repercussions most. Admissions officers at FSU, for instance, are reviewing their applicant pool daily. Before the budget outlook worsened, they anticipated enrolling 6,200 freshmen next fall. They now plan to pare that number down to 5,200, which would be FSU's smallest class in years.

"We know standards are going up, and we know we'll have a bigger wait list," said Janice Finney, FSU's admissions director. "We are overenrolled. We are consciously shrinking."

Board of Governors members, anticipating a budget shortfall, had ordered a freeze on freshman enrollment for the next three years. Even a 5 percent tuition increase that took effect in January wasn't enough to stop budget cuts. USF, for one, has cut $12.2 million so far this fiscal year.

In a separate letter sent to university presidents Jan. 10, Rosenberg warned that state revenue collections are falling, a symptom of Florida's housing woes. With the grim news, USF leaders plan to cut another $13.7 million this fiscal year, bringing the year's total cuts to about $26 million.

An anticipated $2 billion state budget shortfall next fiscal year has prompted USF officials to consider cutting another $26 million. That brings the planned cuts to $52 million during two years, or 15 percent of the $350 million USF gets from the state.

USF Provost Ralph Wilcox told university trustees last week that the state board's mandated freeze on enrollment may not be enough, although he hadn't discussed a plan to reduce enrollment.

For years, USF has raised its admissions standards to help manage its rapidly growing student body. Nearly 3,800 freshmen enrolled at USF in the fall, and their average high school grade-point average was 3.71. Nearly 1 in 4 was ranked in the top 10 percent of their high school classes.

Reporter Adam Emerson can be reached at aemerson@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-8285.

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