2022 Pricing: Florida State
CTAS cost forecasts for Florida State's 22/23 academic year and full 4-year program
CTAS is sharing its projections of 2022/23 academic year costs for individual colleges as a recurring feature. Similar information covering over 3,000 2- and 4-year schools is available at the CTAS site.
This post projects average net costs for Florida State University (FSU) in Tallahassee.
While its cross-state rival, the University of Florida in Gainesville, has been managing its entering class size downwards, Florida State prioritizes growth and just enrolled its largest entering class in history (7,200 vs about 6,000 annually pre-COVID). In fact, the tone and language from FSU's administrators in press quotes indicates an attitude focussed on expansion and growth. If current trends persist, FSU will be close to double the size of the University of Florida within a few years.
FSU serves predominantly state residents, as Florida's higher ed system was designed to do, but recruits reasonably sizable out-of-state cohorts (2019: 764 students out of 7,056, or 11% of its US first years). Unlike the University of Florida, FSU has begun the familiar pattern of increasing its institutional financial aid budget, an increase separate from the state’s significant scholarship programs. Based on that trend, we predict that FSU will more aggressively market itself outside Florida in the future, This will be done while continuing to tighten standards: the school’s admit rate fell impressively from 58% in 2016 to 36% in 2019. Once there, students stay. FSU enjoys notably good retention (92% in 2019), though at a level a bit lower than the University of Florida.
In our piece on the University of Rhode Island, we had looked at a college search from the perspective of a relatively affluent high school student in New Jersey and noted that Rhode Island is cost competitive with the large Garden State public universities. The same holds for FSU, which is willing to throw in moderate amounts of aid to enroll applicants. This hypothetical New Jersey student can consider attending Rutgers or Rowan — or FSU — and see few cost difference between them, making the choice purely academic and personal.
These projections represent informational projections that will change over time and are not a commitment either by CTAS or the applicable colleges. Figures are rounded to the $500 avoid false specificity. Final net cost numbers will differ from these estimates for many reasons: changes to economic trends, decisions by the colleges both about their own policy and enrollment, as well as decisions about individual students. Estimates of full program costs assume graduation in 4-years (for Bachelor’s) or 2-years (Associate) without any gaps, delays or added semesters/quarters. We take pride in our numbers so, if you believe any should be corrected, please reach out to us at support@collegetuitionadvisoryservices.com and we will work with you to resolve the issue.
Average Net Cost is a consumer-centric metric which shows costs as they are presented in commercial transactions outside of higher education. It represents a full-time student’s cost of attending college including: tuition, room & board, fees and estimates of supplies less institutional aid of all kinds (including need-based and merit), and less federal and state/local aid. Loans and other repayable amounts, along with work study earnings, are excluded and do not reduce the cost. Room and board charges are on-campus costs for residential colleges; for students attending non-residential institutions, the college's own estimate of such off-campus costs is mostly used. CTAS' Net Cost differs from the Net Price figure self-reported by colleges because it is comprehensive and covers all entering students, including the approximately 40% not included in Net Price calculations.
Please find more information at the CTAS site. CTAS provides data, reports and personalized assistance with college pricing and aid appeals.