Putnam Says FL Universities Should Charge 'Chapel Hill' Prices for Out-of-State Students

Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, a University of Florida graduate and currently running a bid to replace term-limited Florida Governor Rick Scott, is arguing that the sunshine state is "selling Florida universities cheap to out-of-state students."

He shared his thoughts at the Florida Chamber of Commerce Learners to Earners Workforce Summit in Tampa.

Putnam continued by assuring that "We're now a world class university system" and that we should "Make people earn it."

In the University of Florida, a year for a non-resident student is $28, 658 while an out-of-state student pays $21,515 at Florida State University. The Agriculture Commissioner called those "Auburn prices" and said that "we ought to be charging Chapel Hill (University of North Carolina) and UVA (University of Virginia) and (University of) Michigan's tuition to be an out-of-state student."

At the University of North Carolina, they charge $34, 938 a year from out-of-state students. And Putnam questioned "If you want to come to Florida, if you want to enjoy everything Florida's got, and we're going to take the hit for creating spaces for out-of-state students anyway, why in the world are we selling Florida cheap?"

He ended by commenting that "There has to be a plan there for us to continue to advance our university mission, and the legislature, I think, has done an exceptional job of supporting the university mission. I think there's some work to be done in supporting the state college mission."