Written by: Heather Zimar
Published: 10/25/2007

Florida State Colleges Getting More Selective

Florida’s 11 public universities turned away 30,000 applicants in 2006—70 percent more than in 2000, reports The Miami Herald.

Due to state budget cuts, the universities are not increasing their freshman class sizes in 2008, despite estimates of 4,300 more Florida high school graduates this spring than last.

State leaders have acknowledged that Florida didn’t adequately plan for a rise in teenagers along with a recession after Sept. 11 and a state budget crisis. The number of graduating seniors in the state jumped 28 percent from 116,950 in 2000 to 150,100 in 2006. Also affecting the enrollment crunch is the Bright Futures scholarships, which pay at least 75 percent of tuition at a state college or university for students who earned a B average in a Florida high school. When the state planned for the scholarships a decade ago, they didn’t expect so many students to qualify. In 2006, 55,993 were awarded scholarships, a 41 percent jump from the 39,729 who qualified in 2000.

At the state’s community colleges, which have been taking many of the students who have been turned away elsewhere, enrollments have increased. For example, Miami Dade College has seen a 42 percent increase in 18- to 20-year-old students from 2000 to 2006. Community college officials say they are struggling to stretch their budgets and accommodate the extra students.

At Florida State University, the rate of rejected applicants has increased from 38 percent in 2002 to 52 percent in 2007. FSU received more than 33,000 applications during the last admission cycle, and rejected more than 19,300.

Florida International University, which in the past has absorbed 70 percent of Miami-Dade County’s high school graduates, rejected almost two-thirds of those applying for fall 2007.

“We’re supposed to be about access, but now we’re becoming selective,” said FIU President Modesto Maidique. “We’re only taking the frosting.”

Related Links:

Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/295/story/278445.html