03.25.2022
Florida Gets Higher Ed Right
Here’s how Florida is raising the bar for higher education
The state recently rolled out a first-in-the-nation interactive tool to help students find the college and career that’s right for them.
That’s what my wife and I tell our four kids. Our oldest, a 10th-grader, is wondering if college is the best option to achieve his entrepreneurial dreams. Our ninth-grade daughter wants low debt and a high income, although her interests change often. Our youngest — twin boys — seem blissfully unaware that college exists. But one of biggest decisions of their lives is closer than they think.
It’s also never too early for parents to think through college and non-college options. My wife and I will probably be on the hook for at least part of the bill. More importantly, we want to make sure our kids choose the best path for their respective careers. It’s been a few decades, but we remember how hard it was to figure out which college would give us the most opportunities and the least debt. Conversations with friends and family nationwide have made clear that it’s getting harder, not easier, to find affordable schools that fast-track success.
But not in Florida. Our state has built what may very well be the best higher education system in America. And a series of recent reforms is making things even better—for students and parents alike.
That’s the takeaway from a new study by the Foundation for Government Accountability, which I lead. We found that Florida students have the most affordable public college tuition in the nation. Moreover, we’re the only state that can say students are paying less now per enrollee than they were two decades ago. Given that college costs have been rapidly rising nationwide, that’s impressive. Every Floridian should be proud of our record.
What explains our state’s leadership? Commonsense policy. In 2014, then-Gov. Rick Scott eliminated automatic tuition increases at public colleges and universities, and nearly a decade later, our four-year state schools have among the lowest tuition in the country. The result is one of America’s lowest student debt burdens — and the lowest in the eastern two-thirds of the country.
These achievements are remarkable. And under Gov. Ron DeSantis, House Speaker Chris Sprowls and Senate President Wilton Simpson, Florida is raising the bar even higher.
The state recently rolled out a first-in-the-nation interactive tool to help students find the college and career that’s right for them. It’s called “MyFloridaFuture,” and it’s the result of legislation enacted last year. The tool lets students compare actual earnings from different degree programs, with the added benefit of seeing which public universities deliver the best results. It also shines a light on expected student loan debt, tracked across institutions and degrees.
MyFloridaFuture is a game-changer. It used to be all but impossible for students to discover this information. Now it’s available at the click of a button. My 10th-grade son has already used the tool and so have countless other students. Such transparency will likely lead to lower student loan debt and higher career earnings.
It may also lead students to choose a different path, such as vocational schools or apprenticeships or the military, if a particular degree doesn’t seem worth the debt. That’s good, since college isn’t the best path for everyone. Today, a 20-week coding bootcamp program graduate could be better positioned than someone with a four-year bachelor’s degree in computer science, which was my major.
Equally important, Gov. DeSantis is making higher education more affordable and aligning it with Florida’s economic needs. He recently enacted Speaker Sprowls’ first-in-the-nation “buy-one, get-one” program for students who enroll in critical science, technology, engineering, and mathematics classes. For each class they take, they get a similar course free. This smart policy encourages students to pursue degrees in the most cutting-edge fields, while simultaneously lowering tuition for families. That’s good for their future and that of our state.
It’s never too early to think about which — or whether — college is right for you or your kids. And thanks to Florida’s higher education leadership, it’s also never been easier. As the parent of four soon-to-be-college-age students, few things make me happier. It’s yet another reason to live, work, learn, and raise a family here.
Tarren Bragdon is president and CEO of the Foundation for Government Accountability, based in Naples.
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2020 ELECTION: MINNESOTA VOTER FRAUD TRACKER
STEARNS COUNTY, MINNESOTA: After the conclusion of the 2020 election, five ineligible voters were charged with “various forms of voter fraud” in Stearns County. To date, only one has been sentenced:
- Bradley A. Haugen was sentenced earlier this month to “two years’ probation and ordered to pay $214 in fines and fees after pleading guilty to a felony count of intentionally making a false or untrue statement on an absentee ballot application.” Mr. Haugen was a convicted felon who was sentenced to five years’ probation that does not expire until October 2023. That means that he’s ineligible to vote or register to vote until which time his probation expires. His attorney noted that Mr. Haugen did not return the absentee ballot he received in the mail. It is also worth noting that this is, according to the Star Tribune, “the first time the County Attorney’s Office has prosecuted an ineligible voter for merely applying for an absentee ballot.” Progress.
Felony charges are also pending for the following individuals in Stearns County:
- Hassan Abdulkadir and Calia Bynum, both of St. Cloud, who, according to the Star Tribune, “voted in person illegally on November 3. Both said they were unaware that being on probation for a felony conviction prevented them from voting.”
- Sarah Nesenson, “while on probation for a felony drug offense, sent in her voter registration application.”
- Jill D. Kelley, who “allegedly voted twice in the March 2020 primary, once by absentee and again in person.”
NOTE TO READERS: If you see voter fraud prosecutions like this being charged in your county, please send the newspaper article to: info@freedomfoundationofminnesota.com[.] New laws aimed at prohibiting ineligible voters from casting ballots doesn’t do any good if county attorneys don’t prosecute offenders. The Freedom Foundation would like to make note of it when they do.
GAS TAX FEVER (SUNG ALONG TO “CAT SCRATCH FEVER”)
The Tax Foundation released a report earlier this month outlining why Florida’s October 2022 (yes, one month before the election!) gas tax suspension is likely to do little or nothing to help consumers battling the inflated cost of gasoline. Governor Walz (yes, the same Governor Walz who wanted to raise Minnesota’s gas tax by 20-cents per gallon in 2019) and some in the legislature have proposed a similar gas tax gimmick. As the Tax Foundation analysis proves – there are far better ways to help struggling families deal with high inflation costs rather than short-term tax gimmicks like THIS and HERE.
WHY MINNESOTA CONSERVATIVES NEED TO VOTE IN 2022:
Political prognosticators are predicting that the historical headwinds facing Democrats in Congress will translate into races further down ballot.
Specifically, according to a new analysis from Ballotpedia, they found “that over the past century “Democratic presidents have seen their party lose an average of 388 state legislative seats in their first midterm elections. Republican presidents have seen an average loss of 345.”
The research goes on to say that “[O]nly two presidents since1922 have seen their parties gain state legislative seats in their first midterm elections: Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1934 and George W. Bush in 2002.”
Finally, “[T]his all suggests that Democrats may find themselves in an even deeper hole at the state level after this fall. The party currently holds just 44% of state legislative seats across the country, compared with 54% for the GOP, “according to Ballotpedia.
DUMB:
“Minnesota legislators consider $1,000 fine on unruly youth sports attendees. A proposal to impose civil penalties on people who disrupt kids’ sports events has some bipartisan support.”
Under current Minnesota law, school principals can ban someone from attending any sports event in that district for up to one year. This is a much better and more effective way of dealing with adults who are unable to control their language and their temper tantrums while watching kids play sports.
DUMBER:
Minnesota legislators are considering abandoning parental control over social media content their children view and handing that responsibility over to the State of Minnesota and the state’s attorney general, Keith Ellison. Tossing aside First Amendment concerns, HF 3724 will enact a mandate that pretends to be protecting children from harmful Internet content.
Instead, its clumsy approach will disallow certain content for users under age 18 “even if the algorithm is being employed to protect the user from harmful content.” It is also unclear how it would apply to students doing legitimate research. For example: “If a Minnesota teenager is on a class field trip to Washington, DC, does the law still apply?” “What about an Arizona teenager visiting their grandparents in Minnesota?” What about a 17 year old college student from another state studying at a Minnesota university or a Minnesota student using PSEO?
Everyone – consumers and technology companies agree: we must do everything possible to make sure that children, when online, are safe. But legislation like this is counterproductive to those goals: it will invite a multitude of lawsuits by enacting impractical, state-specific regulations that will likely undermine efforts currently underway to keep minors away from harmful digital content.
SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI: THE $115 MILLION DOLLAR WOMAN
According to Forbes, last week House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s “financier husband” exercised 25 Tesla call options worth more than $2 million. There’s a good reason why the Speaker and her husband have an estimated net worth of over $115 million – her insider knowledge of rules and regulations soon to be enacted by Congress have helped make her family fabulously wealthy.
Congress has tried to do something to curtail insider trading for years. Under the “Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act of 2012 (STOCK Act), lawmakers must disclose stock transactions made personally or by their spouses or dependent children within 45 days.” Yet many congressional watchdogs believe the STOCK Act doesn’t go far enough in deterring lawmakers from personally benefitting from insider knowledge when purchasing shares of individual stocks. As a matter of fact, Business Insider found that 54 Members of Congress (that’s 10%!) violated provisions of that law just last year. You can read the full story HERE.
AMERICANS OVERESTIMATE THE SIZE OF MINORITY GROUPS AND UNDERESTIMATE THE SIZE OF MOST MAJORITY GROUPS
From YouGovAmerica: “When it comes to estimating the size of demographic groups, Americans rarely get it right. In two recent YouGov polls, we asked respondents to guess the percentage (ranging from 0% to 100%) of American adults who are members of 43 different groups, including racial and religious groups, as well as other less frequently studied groups, such as pet owners and those who are left-handed.
“When people’s average perceptions of group sizes are compared to actual population estimates, an intriguing pattern emerges: Americans tend to vastly overestimate the size of minority groups. This holds for sexual minorities, including the proportion of gays and lesbians (estimate: 30%, true: 3%), bisexuals (estimate: 29%, true: 4%), and people who are transgender (estimate: 21%, true: 0.6%).
“It also applies to religious minorities, such as Muslim Americans (estimate: 27%, true: 1%) and Jewish Americans (estimate: 30%, true: 2%). And we find the same sorts of overestimates for racial and ethnic minorities, such as Native Americans (estimate: 27%, true: 1%), Asian Americans (estimate: 29%, true: 6%), and Black Americans (estimate: 41%, true: 12%).”
Enjoy the full polling report HERE.
INFLATION FACTS:
Inflation is currently at 7.9% in the US. Here are some of the biggest year-to-year price increases, courtesy of The Washington Post:
- Fuel oil 44%
- Used Cars 41%
- Gasoline 38%
- Hotels 29%
- Utility gas 24%
- Furniture 17%
- Steak 17%
- Chicken 13%
- Fish 12%
- Flour 12%
- Suits 12%
- New cars 12%
- Eggs & milk 11%
- Fruit 11%
- Coffee 11%
- Appliances 11%
- Restaurants 7%
- Rent 4.3%
QUOTE OF THE WEEK:
“Our fight is against patriarchy, our fight is against capitalism, our fight is for the soul of our city.”
- Greta Callahan, president of the striking Minneapolis Federation of Teachers that have been on strike for three weeks. As they vote on a settlement, you can see that the Union’s fight was all about the children.
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1. Florida Gets Higher Ed Right
2. Short Takes
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