Florida Adds Up Cost for University Degrees

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In the formula, the “sticker price” of the degree is offset by grants and scholarships the students receive but do not have to pay back, unlike loans. These offsets include the Bright Futures merit scholarships as well as the federal needs-based Pell grants, which were used by 39 percent of Florida university students in the fall of 2015.

“Students actually pay the ‘net tuition’ amount, which is the amount of tuition and fees that remains after financial aid has been taken into account,” a Board of Governors report said.

The new student-cost metric could benefit several schools in their annual performance evaluations, while also penalizing a few others.

The most dramatic change is at New College, which ranked last in the previous institutional cost of a degree but is first in the ranking of net tuition costs for students earning baccalaureate degrees. The rise could help the school climb out of its current bottom-three ranking, although the other performance metrics have to be factored in.