[ClaireSolt]

Economics, not race, prevented more black students from taking offers at the University of Florida. Maybe this discussion should be about making money available to qualified and accepted students.

Bush has also addressed this issue regarding vouchers: he has raised a pool of money to fund them. Improving primary and secondary education in cities is the main way to get more qualified applicants to premier institutions. That brings us back to dem pols and the teacher unions IMO.

Also, it matters who draws up statistics. The higher education system includes other public institutions which are also good. First generation college attendees are more likely to live at home and attend local colleges and junior college, for lots of reasons.

[summer]

Economics, not race, prevented more black students from taking offers at the University of Florida. Maybe this discussion should be about making money available to qualified and accepted students.

Claire, tuition at FL's public universites is among the least expensive in the nation, if not the least inexpensive in the nation.

Also, as the above Orlando Sentinel articles point out, a FL Bright Futures scholarship -- based entirely on merit -- pays for 75% of the cost of higher education for FL students who meet the requirements, which are not terribly difficult to meet.

However, I think you make a valid point with respect to other states' institutions of higher ed -- NY just hiked up tuition at its public universities by 41% (forty-one per cent) and the tuition there was more than FL to begin with.

In addition, private universities and private colleges have not lowered their tuition rates at all.