As the Florida legislature prepares to reconvene next week to decide the budget, scholarships for over 20,000 college students are still on the chopping block.
The cuts would be to the Effective Access to Student Education, or EASE grants, which help to subsidize a college education for Florida students.
An item in the budget that legislators will consider next week would cut the $3,500 dollar scholarships for students who attend 15 private universities and colleges in Florida.
Sam Stark is Vice President of Communications and External Relations at Rollins.
Stark said that while students at his school won't be directly impacted by these cuts, students at sister institutions who are part of the Independent Colleges and Universities of Florida (ICUF) network would be.
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"That is the fund that allows them to make their higher education dreams possible in a learning environment and with a class schedule and with a major that works for them," said Stark.
Impacted schools include historically Black colleges and universities, or HBCUs, Hispanic Serving Institutions, and faith-based universities.
Stark says the return on investment for EASE is incredibly high.
He said these schools play a crucial role in graduating educated workers to fill high-need jobs.
"And why would we, why would we take that away from our communities, our economic workforce, our economic development and communities," asked Stark.
He said the timing of this is particularly confusing considering that Florida is a leader in parent and student choice when it comes to education.
Governor Ron DeSantis announced in January that more than 500,000 students had elected to participate in the state's universal voucher program, which helps cover costs for K-12 education at a private, charter, or home school on a scholarship.
The conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation has consistently ranked Florida number one for education freedom, along with the conservative The ALEC Index of State Education Freedom: A 50 State Guide to Parental Empowerment.
So, Stark says it's baffling that leaders in the Florida House would want to strip educational choices away from Florida college students opting to go to private institutions on an EASE scholarship.
"Florida is a leader in K-12 choice, and has emerged as that and so to take that away and remove that, it just seems confusing. Some students want to learn and need to learn in a different environment than others, and that's what sometimes these private and independent schools, who might have a cultural or philosophical or religious mission provide," said Stark.
Proponents in the House say these cuts are needed to balance the budget.
The legislature will reconvene next week to iron out the budget, and other items they didn't get to in the regularly scheduled legislative session.
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