During a visit to Florida State University, Vice President Biden echoed the president's call to withhold federal funding to schools that raise tuition.
TAMPA, Fla. -- The cost for a college education is staggering; students have reportedly seen a 300 percent increase in the last 20 years. Vice President Joe Biden told a group of FSU students today 62 percent of all jobs created in the next decade will require a college degree.
A college education is part of the American Dream, but for USF students Shadaae Devonish and Briana Joseph, that dream comes at a steep price. "I'm a 4th year student and I'm $26,000 in debt," says Shadaae.
"I'm currently a junior and I'm $21,000 in debt," says Briana. "I try to take two difficult classes and a couple of balancer classes. I can't afford to take a class and fail it. It's a waste."
Tuition and fees at USF have gone up from $130 in 2008 to $191 this year. The increase represents up to a 15 percent tuition hike by state and university leaders that could continue each year until Florida meets the national average.
The average tuition and fees to attend a 4-year Florida college remains among the most affordable at $5,626 per year -- that's about $2,600 below the national average of $8,244. Florida ranks 45th out of 50 states as one with the lowest cost for an undergraduate degree. Students say it should stay that way.
Shadaae says, "You can't keep raising tuition and expect it to be all right. I don't come from a family that has money."
Briana adds, "Something needs to be done. If not, students are not motivated to go to college anymore."
During a visit to Florida State University, Vice President Biden echoed the president's call to withhold federal funding to schools that raise tuition. The funding does not include money covering grants and loans.
Vice President Biden says, "There's nothing more important to our national interest than to have the best single educated population in the world."
President Obama is proposing to take 3 billion dollars in funding from campus-based aid and increase it to 10 billion dollars, but distribute the money differently and awarding that money to universities and colleges the keep tuition costs down.
The president has also recommended a Race To The Top competition for higher education similar to the one available for students in K-12.
USF officials say Florida's public universities are not the problem.
USF Provost Ralph Wilcox, Ph.D., says, "They (the federal government) need to look at skyrocketing costs at private universities and not-for-profits in those states, where students are paying three times...for an education. That's where they will find the solution."
Wilcox says, university leaders do not want to raise tuition, but if state leaders cut funding to higher education, college presidents will be left with no choice. Wilcox says USF has a responsibility to its students to provide a quality education. He says if the state cuts funding and universities do not raise tuition to "plug the hole" left behind, other options include cutting classes offered to students and increasing class size.
But, in the end, the cost to go to college is out of reach for Shardaae, a future pharmacist, and Briana, a business major. Both say loans make the dream possible. Briana is the first person in her family to go to college. She says, "We are here trying to succeed in the future."