The Florida House’s proposed budget would take away funding for almost 22,000 Florida students who attend private, non-profit colleges and universities in the state.
The Effective Access to Student Education Grant or EASE provides scholarships to Florida residents at some private, not-for-profit institutions to help ease the burden of the cost of a higher education.
The proposed cut would impact students at 15 of the 30 schools that fall under this designation.
Art Keiser is the Chancellor of Keiser University, one of the schools that would be impacted.
“One of our students wrote a beautiful op-ed in the Miami Herald talking about what happened to her. She was a nursing student, and it would have an impact in that she may not be able to finish her nursing degree,” said Keiser.
Keiser said a lot of really good students, who he called the future of the state’s workforce, stand to lose their ability to attend a private university, or to complete their degree at one.
“Especially with hard economic times that might be coming, this is, I think, a great return on investment for the citizens of Florida, and more importantly, it makes a big difference for students who may or may not choose a private institution,” said Keiser.
Keiser called Florida’s private universities the lifeblood of the state, graduating hundreds of teachers, nurses, and other workers in high-demand fields that are currently experiencing shortages in Florida.
He said classes tend to be smaller, with more personal attention, and some of Florida’s private universities and colleges are older than the state’s public universities.
“It’s a shame that our students are not being given the choice to make the educational decision that they would like,” said Keiser.
The Florida House says these funds need to be cut in order to balance the budget, and return more funds to the general revenue this year.
In Central Florida, students at AdventHealth University, Barry University, Bethune-Cookman University, and Embry-Riddle University would also be impacted by these changes. These schools don’t meet four out of five measures newly set out by the Department of Education which would make them ineligible for this funding.
Here’s the full list of schools whose EASE funding would be cut:
