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USF Students Might Face New Tech Fee

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By ADAM EMERSON

aemerson@tampatrib.com

Published: November 7, 2008

University of South Florida trustees will soon consider making students pay a fee to help bankroll technology upgrades.

Lawmakers last fall empowered Florida's public universities to levy a fee of up to 5 percent of the tuition students pay per credit hour. USF administrators are asking trustees to approve the maximum amount, which would add about $122 on an annual undergraduate tuition bill of $3,990 at the Tampa campus.

That extra amount, however, won't be covered by the state's popular Bright Futures Scholarship, which pays for tuition and fees depending on a student's high school grades and test scores.

USF students will have to cover the cost themselves. There was no previous fee to support technology upgrades, and Florida's public universities have long argued the need to turn to students for help.

Several student and faculty committees will recommend how to use the money, but Michael Pearce, USF's vice president of information technology, said the money could be spent on computer lab upgrades and wireless expansion.

The fee would generate $5.2 million for USF in the 2009-10 fiscal year.

A work group of trustees will discuss the proposal at a Thursday meeting, and the full board will consider it in December.

Reporter Adam Emerson can be reached at (813) 259-8285.

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