I routinely hear three things from students \u2013 and their families \u2013 when they visit campus to talk about attending the Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½.<\/p>\n
The first is that our modern, beautiful campus \u201calready feels like home.\u201d The second is that Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ offers a personal touch to students more commonly found in much smaller institutions \u2013 even though we are the second-largest university in the nation.<\/p>\n
The third topic that students and families talk about is the cost of a college education. When addressing cost, my answer is simple: Consider cost, but also focus on value.<\/p>\n
When you focus on value, the benefits of a college degree are clear: A college degree continues to be the most important investment you can make for a successful career and a brighter future.<\/p>\n
From 2007 to 2012, during very tough employment times, people with baccalaureate degrees as a group experienced no net loss of jobs. Those who did not attend college, as a group, experienced a 10 percent decline in employment.<\/p>\n
And a Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ degree, in particular, is an excellent investment that is affordable and valuable. For example, The Princeton Review<\/em>, one of America\u2019s best-known education services and test-preparation companies, has joined Kiplinger <\/em>magazine in ranking a Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ education as one of the best academic buys in the nation.<\/p>\n Being a \u201cbest buy\u201d has helped 49 percent of our students graduate without any Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ educational debt. Nationally, just 33 percent of students graduate debt-free.<\/p>\n And despite recent tuition increases across the state, Florida universities still have some of the least expensive tuition costs in the nation. The cost of an education at a Florida state university ranks 45th in the nation.\u00a0 This means students have an opportunity to receive an outstanding education at one of the most affordable prices in the country.<\/p>\n Students and their families, however, know there is more to college costs than just tuition. Student fees fund important projects such as computer labs, academic services, recreational facilities and more.<\/p>\n These are services that students expect and also add value to their overall educational experiences. Further, Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ students play a key role in approving fees. Committees equally divided between students and employees annually review most fees, and students hold the tie-breaking vote in most committees.<\/p>\n At an affordable campus that \u201calready feels like home,\u201d Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ students learn to succeed in their studies, the workforce and in the community.<\/p>\n Dr. Gordon D. Chavis is the Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½\u2019s associate vice president for <\/em>Undergraduate Admissions, Student Financial Assistance and Student Outreach programs.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I routinely hear three things from students \u2013 and their families \u2013 when they visit campus to talk about attending the Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½. The first is that our modern, beautiful campus \u201calready feels like home.\u201d The second is that Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ offers a personal touch to students more commonly found in much smaller institutions \u2013 even though we are…","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":46263,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-twocol.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"lazy_load_responsive_images_disabled":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[5272,10666,3882,202],"tu_author":[],"class_list":["post-46262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","tag-affordability","tag-gordon-chavis","tag-rankings","tag-alumni"],"yoast_head":"\n