<p>[Florida</a> universities: Tuition increases, Bright Futures scholarship cuts could cause brain drain as students leave state – South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com](<a href=“http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/fl-brain-drain-20091130,0,5380867.story]Florida”>http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/fl-brain-drain-20091130,0,5380867.story)</p>
<p>Seems like the president of the Palm Beach Business Development Board is overreacting. The state built a whole university right in Palm Beach county–Florida Atlantic University. Most communities would kill to get a university like that to draw educated workers from, and also to get the benefits of the university’s financial impact to the community. Students in Palm Beach area can save expenses such as room and board by commuting; combined with still low state university tuition, they can get an excellent education on the cheap. </p>
<p>Florida will always have some students attend out-of-state colleges, but for most Florida students, Florida colleges are the affordable option. Florida will lose students to other areas if the economy doesn’t improve and good jobs are not available.</p>
<p>This could completely be avoided by raising the standards for the “75 percent”, and continuing to offer 75 percent and 100 percent of tuition. 970 is a ridiculous standard for such a valuable scholarship ($11,400)</p>