• early college programs, which offer options for public school students to complete a portion or all of a certificate or degree program; and
• dual enrollment, which allows high school students to enroll in a course and receive both high school and college credit.

The Florida College System is governed by the State Board of Education. Each institution within the Florida College System is governed by a local board of trustees as provided in s. 1001.64, Florida Statutes.

Boards of trustees are responsible for cost-effective policies; the implementation and maintenance of high-quality education programs; performance measurement; and adherence to state policy, budgeting, and education standards. Each board of trustees is authorized to adopt rules, procedures, and policies, consistent with law and rules of the State Board of Education.

In 2021-22, Florida College System institutions served 613,754 students. 

The Florida College System is the primary access point to higher education for Floridians, including recent high school graduates and returning adult students.

Florida College System institutions have an open-door admissions and affordability policy that allows for admission to an associate-level degree program to anyone with a standard high school diploma or its equivalent and extends admission to a workforce education program to anyone with a certificate of completion. In addition, students must have demonstrated a level of achievement of college-level communication and computation skills and any other requirements established by the board of trustees.

In 2021-22, Florida colleges awarded 111,127 degrees and certificates.

Student support programs include common placement testing, academic advising and counseling, career counseling, disabled student services, financial aid assistance, student records and registration, student health services, and extracurricular organizations and activities.

College Credit Programs.  Section 1009.23, Florida Statutes, authorizes Florida colleges to charge a standard resident tuition of $71.98 per credit hour for advanced and professional, postsecondary vocational, developmental education, and educator preparation institute programs, and $91.79 per credit hour for bachelor's degree programs.

The colleges are authorized to charge non-residents tuition of $91.79 per credit hour and an out-of-state fee of $215.94 per credit hour for advanced and professional, postsecondary vocational, developmental education, and educator preparation institute programs.  For bachelor's degree programs, s. 1009.23, Florida Statutes, limits the sum of the tuition and the out-of-state fee per credit hour to no more than 85% of the sum of the tuition and the out-of-state fee at the state university nearest the state college.

$10,000 Bachelor's Degree.  Section 1009.26, Florida Statutes, provides for $10,000 Bachelor's Degrees at Florida College System institutions. The law authorizes the waiver of Florida College System tuition and fees for the purpose of offering baccalaureate degrees for state residents for which the cost for the degree program does not exceed $10,000.

Workforce Education Programs. Section 1009.22, Florida Statutes, authorizes Florida colleges to charge residents and non-residents a standard tuition of $2.33 per contact hour for programs leading to a career certificate or an applied technology diploma, and an out-of-state student fee of $6.99 per contact hour. Also, colleges are authorized to charge block tuition of $45 per half year or $30 per term for adult education programs.

• Activity and service fees may not exceed 10% of the tuition fee.
• Capital improvement fees may not exceed 20% of tuition for resident students or 20% of the sum of tuition and out-of-state fees for nonresident students, and may not increase more than $2 per credit hour over the prior year for resident students.
• Financial aid fees may not exceed 5% of the total student tuition or out-of-state fees collected.  An additional 2% may be collected if the amount generated by the total financial aid fee is less than $500,000.
• Technology fees may not exceed 5% of tuition per credit hour or credit-hour equivalent for resident students and may not exceed 5% of tuition and the out-of-state fee per credit hour or credit-hour equivalent for nonresident students.
• Distance learning fees may not exceed the additional costs of the services provided which are attributable to the development and delivery of the distance learning course.

Each college board of trustees is also authorized to establish fee schedules for

• application fees;
• diploma replacement fees;
• duplicating, photocopying, binding, or microfilming fees;
• facilities and equipment use or damage fees and fines;
• graduation fees;
• access or identification card fees;
• laboratory fees (excluding distance learning courses);
• registration and payment late fees;
• library fees and fines;
• parking fees and fines;
• standardized testing fees;
• transcript fees; and
• transient student fees.

• Florida's College PK-20 Education Information Portal, Department of Education
• The Florida Education and Training Placement Information Program (FETPIP), Department of Education
• Economic Security Report, Department of Economic Opportunity

Higher Education Finances. The 2023 Legislature enacted Ch. 2023-95,  Florida Statutes, which provides additional flexibility for state universities and colleges relating to operations and the use of funds. The bill removes restrictions from these institutions regarding certain uses of carry forward fund balances, including caps on maintenance and remodeling projects and the requirement that funds only be used for nonrecurring operating expenditures; removes cost and gross square feet size maximums that universities must follow for replacement of minor facilities when using Public Education Capital Outlay (PECO) funds; and, removes the requirement that universities comply with certain procurement processes and authorizes the Board of Governors to establish procedures and regulations for universities to follow. Such regulations must be developed no later than October 1, 2023. In addition, the bill revises the limitations on annual compensation for state universities and colleges by providing that employees of these institutions may not receive more than $250,000 annually from public funds. Lastly, the bill provides additional authority for state universities and colleges to waive certain fees. Specifically, the bill adds a new fee waiver allowing a state university or college to waive the out-of-state fee for a student who is an intercollegiate athlete receiving an athletic scholarship. In addition, the bill adds colleges to existing fee waiver authority for state universities that will allow colleges to waive any application, tuition, or related fees for persons who supervise student interns and for persons 60 years of age or older who are residents of Florida and attend classes for credit.

Education. The 2023 Legislature enacted Ch. 2023-81, Florida Statutes, which includes the following changes related to the Florida College System.

• Provides flexibility in the administration of certain state financial aid and grant programs by removing the requirement for career centers and state colleges that all programs offered to meet local workforce demand include a money-back guarantee for employment; converting the Open Door Grant Program to a financial aid program for students of a state college or career center to incent current and future workers to enroll in CTE that leads to a credential, certificate, or degree; and, providing flexibility for the state administration of the Pathways to Career Opportunities Grant Program and removes the limitation that the grant award may only be used for establishing or expanding apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs.
• Restores to district school boards and state colleges the responsibility for approving workforce education programs that have a statewide curriculum framework developed by the Department of Education.
• Provides flexibility for the Credentials Review Committee (Committee) in designating credentials of value by authorizing the Committee to consider both information provided by the Labor Market Statistics Center within the Department of Economic Opportunity related to short-term demand and long-term data of the Labor Market Estimating Conference as factors in the development of the criteria for identifying credentials of value; authorizing the Committee to consider additional evidence to identify credentials of value for agricultural occupations, and removing the requirement for the Committee to develop a returned-value performance funding formula for colleges and career centers.

Other Reports
The Auditor General reports on community college operations are available on its website

Websites of Interest
Florida College System
Florida College System Data and Reports
Florida's PK-20 Education Information Portal
Association of Florida Colleges
Department of Economic Opportunity, Economic Security Reports
Florida Shines

Performance Information

Office of the Chancellor, Division of Florida Colleges, 850-245-0407, email:  FCSInfo@fldoe.org
Website