By Michael Rustchky
Published on October 10, 2007
PJC might be in for a tuition increase this spring in order to offset a possible cut to the school’s budget. <b>As of Tuesday, October 16, the bill that was decided upon during special sessions of the State Senate and the House of Representatives has been sent to Governor Charles Crist, who has until October 27 to sign or veto it. The current changes to PJC’s budget include a reduction of 2% and a tuition increase of 5%.
</b> The budget cuts were established by the Senate and the House due to a 1.5 billion dollar state deficit.
Although details are tentative at this time, the state is looking at a 5% tuition increase for all community colleges and universities, as well as budget cuts for all 28 of Florida’s community colleges.
During the session, both the House of Representatives and the State Senate scrutinized the current state budget and each organization produced a seperate revised budget. On the following Sunday, October 7, five representatives from the House and five from the Senate met to resolve the differences between the revisions.
On Tuesday, October 9, a session was held to approve the final revised budget, which was then sent to Governor Charles Crist, who must sign it for it to pass.
Regardless of any cuts to the budget that may occur, students should not be concerned about the increase of any other fees or costs on campus.
“We’re not going to nickel and dime our students,” said Larry Bracken, the college government affairs director.
The Corsair will be receiving updates from Bracken as details unfold.