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By LLOYD DUNKELBERGER
THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

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THE CAPITAL, TALLAHASSEE, March 31, 2017 .......... Florida university presidents said they are ready to deal with a developing legislative mandate to have block tuition on their campuses by the fall of 2018, but warned the new system won't come without challenges.

In interviews at the Florida Board of Governors meeting this week, a half-dozen of the university leaders expressed reservations about the cost, the impact on part-time students, and the unique characteristics of their schools as they switch from charging students on a per-credit-hour basis for classes to charging a flat, per-semester fee.

The basic idea behind block tuition is to provide a financial incentive for students to take more classes and earn undergraduate degrees in four years. For instance, they could pay a flat fee representing 12 credit hours but take 15 or more credit hours in classes each semester, more quickly reaching the 120 credit hours needed for most baccalaureate degrees.

Tying to apply the block-tuition system it to a 12-university system with more than 400,000 students involves many nuances and complications, the university presidents said.

"I support block tuition as long as it doesn't hurt part-time students and as long as it doesn't hurt working students," said Mark Rosenberg, president of Florida International University.

FIU --- with 55,000 students, the second-largest school in the system --- classifies 41 percent of its student body as part-time. And Rosenberg estimated 85 percent of his students are working part-time or full-time.

He said those students may not be able to take advantage of a block tuition plan, which would drive down costs for students who load up on credit hours.

"In essence, they will not be able to benefit from the block tuition because they have to work," Rosenberg said.

And, like the other presidents, Rosenberg is worried about the financial consequences of a tuition plan that allows students to take more classes than they pay for.

An analysis of a plan where students paid a flat fee representing 12 credit hours per semester but enrolled in 15 or more credit hours would represent a $40 million cost for Florida State University. It would mean the loss of $20 million in tuition and fees and result in a $20 million cost to expand classes and add faculty to accommodate the heavier student class loads.