1. GOVERNOR’S BLUE RIBBON TASK FORCE
NOTES FROM 10/17/12 CONFERENCE CALL
The Governor’s strategic goals for the state universities should inform the specific metrics by
which the universities are measured, held accountable and rewarded. These goals include:
 Increasing the bachelor’s degrees awarded in strategic areas of emphasis
 Increasing the percentage of graduates who become employed upon graduation or who
continue their education
 For those seeking employment upon graduation, increasing the number of graduates
who attain employment at higher salary rates
 Continuing to identify and implement institutional efficiencies and strategies that lower
the cost to graduate
Tuition and funding strategies need to address a variety of challenges and goals, which are
often in conflict with respect to the direction of tuition levels. The pressure to increase tuition
comes from the desire to achieve institutional excellence and to increase national reputation,
which in turn, increases the value of degrees to both graduates and their employers, translating
to higher starting salaries for graduates. Pressure to increase tuition certainly results from
significant reductions in base funding support from the state.
The competing pressure to lower tuition results as universities strive to maintain access and
affordability for Florida taxpayers, and as a strategy to incentivize student choices and
outcomes that will not only keep current employers fully staffed, but also to attract new
business and industry to Florida with a talented and prepared workforce. These objectives
argue for differentiated tuition by degree or program, and perhaps even lowering tuition in
certain strategic areas.
To address the multiple tensions on tuition and funding, the following recommendations are
put forward for consideration by the full Task Force:
1. Student Funding Support. The State of Florida should be committed to moving toward
the national average of funding per student for the state universities.
a. In the absence of state support, the Legislature and Board of Governors, working
together, should approve tuition strategies to compensate for state funding.
2. Differentiated Tuition Structure. The Legislature and Board of Governors should move
away from uniform tuition rates among the universities and among all degree programs
within a university.
a. Degree Programs in Strategic Areas of Emphasis (Fuller). A differentiated
tuition model should be built on the establishment of specific degree programs
identified jointly by the Legislature and Board of Governors as degrees in
strategic areas of emphasis. Metrics for both identifying these programs and
measuring their success (outcomes) would be jointly determined by the
Legislature and the Board.

2. When an established percentage (i.e. 25%) of a university’s total number of
degree offerings (or percentage of total number of yearly graduates completing
one of these programs?) is attained, that university may assign an annual
differentiated tuition by program with the program in the strategic area of
emphasis remaining at a level below the other (nonstrategic) programs. The
assumption would be that state support will remain at a sufficient base level to
allow for the tuition to remain lower by comparison.
A university with more than 25% of its degree programs (or 25% of its total
undergraduate degree recipients) in strategic areas of emphasis will be
authorized to adopt a base tuition rate equal to the average base rate of the
Association of American Universities.
b. Degree Programs in Strategic Areas of Emphasis (Delaney). With the authority
to differentiate tuition among degree programs, within specified limits and
pursuant to meeting specific metrics, each university is in the best position to
determine the tuition rates designed to produce outcomes consistent with the
state’s goals.
Note: Board of Governors’ Degree Programs in Strategic Areas of Emphasis:
The Board of Governors has previously identified undergraduate degree
programs in strategic areas of emphasis. This currently includes 111 programs in
STEM, 28 programs in Globalization, 21 in Health Professions, 19 in Education-
critical (math, science) and 9 programs in Security and Emergency Services.
Currently, 37% of all SUS baccalaureate degrees are in one of these strategic
areas, with a 21% increase in the last 4 years. Growth in STEM programs is
outpacing the growth in non-STEM areas. The Board is using each university’s
performance in this area as a basis for decisions on allocating additional funding,
whether performance funding or differential tuition requests.
3. Preeminent Universities. The Legislature and Board of Governors should work together
to reward “Preeminent Universities” meeting specific metrics that support the state’s
goals with tuition flexibility and decreased regulation.