TAMPA, FL -- Proposed state budget cuts to the University of South Florida and other public colleges and universities will "drastically change" higher eduction across the state, the university's provost said today.
If a state house proposed $600 million cut in funding is approved, U.S.F. Provost Ralph Wilcox said it will mean less students, less faculty and fewer degree programs at the Tampa based university.
At the same time, tuition would likely increase, Wilcox said.
"There's room for students to pick up some addtional cost and I think over the years, that's our best hope," he said.
Wilcox's boss, USF president Dr. Judy Genshaft, joined 11 other public university and college leaders to lobby legislators over the cuts.
At issue is the budget conference trying to reconcile state Senate and state House versions of next year's spending plan.
The Senate's version proposes cutting $250 million from higher education, but the House version chops $500 million plus another $100 million in salaries, according to the Board of Governors of the State University System of Florida.
It's the state House version that would be crippling, Wilcox said.
"Clearly we would not be able to continue serving the same number of students as we have done in the past and we would see faculty members, staff members leaving the University of South Florida," Wilcox said.
Wilcox also said four year degree programs could be cut entirely. "We would, indeed," he said.
Wilcox said the $78 million decrease is the worst case scenario currently on the table in Tallahassee; if that's passed, it would mean that USF has lost $130 million in state funds over the last two years, a 40 percent decrease in state budget money over three years, he said.
