Panel nearing end of work on Fla. higher education

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Gov. Rick Scott's Blue Ribbon Task Force on State Higher Education Reform is nearing the end of its work.

The panel is meeting Wednesday to refine its proposed recommendations with final action scheduled for early next week.

The task force is looking at proposals that would increase tuition rates although Scott has been resistant to that prospect in the past.

One option is to link tuition rates to degree programs rather than having a uniform rate.

Another idea is to let universities with more than 25 percent of their degrees in strategic areas of emphasis raise base tuition to the average rate of the prestigious Association of American Universities.

A third proposal is to give top-performing universities more tuition flexibility and decreased regulation.