Rick Scott: Maintain Affordable College Degrees ‘Without a lot of Debt’

Gov. Rick Scott will continue his focus on holding the line on tuition increases and pumping up degree programs that are more in line with growing jobs fields when he appears at two colleges later today to make what his office says will be announcements on higher education.

When you junior college or college, you went there to get a better job and make more money, Scott said while appearing on WFLA 970 in Tampa on Monday.

The cost has gone up, so weve got to make sure ,,, when people get their degrees they can afford it without a lot of debt, hopefully none, and that they can get a better job.

Scott, as he continues to roll out his agenda for the 2013 legislative session, will be at St. Petersburg College in Clearwater at 10 a.m. today and Valencia College in Orlando at 4 p.m. to introduce a higher education proposal.

On Nov. 1, Scott told state community college leaders that he continues to oppose tuition increases.

The announcements are seen as a pre-emptive stance against expected calls from the Blue Ribbon Task Force on Higher Education Reform that has looked at allowing state colleges to raise tuition on programs that are not deemed strategic areas of emphasis, which include science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields; health professions; and high demand education fields.

In the spring, Scott vetoed a bill that would have allowed some colleges to raise tuition on STEM programs.