When it comes to leadership, consistency is the cornerstone of trust.
Last year, Florida set a national standard for educational freedom by making K-12 scholarships universal. We embrace a strong, common-sense philosophy: Money should follow students to the environment that best suits their unique mission.
However, as we celebrate National School Choice Week, we must address a glaring inconsistency in the framework that is causing thousands of college students to fall behind.
As president of Lakeland Southeastern University, I see the heart of this problem every day. We tell our families they have the right to choose the best school for their children from kindergarten through high school. But when students move beyond graduation to pursue a higher calling, the rules change.
Southeastern University graduates celebrate during the Fall 2024 Commencement Ceremony.
We create funding disparities that penalize students who choose mission-driven independent education.
To understand the scale of this difference, we have to look at the numbers. In the 2025-2026 Florida budget, the state’s total investment in public colleges and universities will average $15,129 per local student when accounting for operating and performance funding, according to a report released by Florida Independent Colleges and Universities.
Meanwhile, students who choose to attend private institutions can only receive $3,500 per year through the Florida EASE grant. But the most shocking number in the report shows that the state’s total investment for an out-of-state student to attend a Florida public university averages $4,889.
To be clear, Florida taxpayers pay more for students from New York or California to attend Florida public schools than for Florida students who want a mission-driven, faith-based or private education. The data clearly shows that the vast majority of students who come to Florida for college leave immediately after graduation, and we are funding these students instead of allowing Florida students to stay in the community to learn and ultimately work.
Kent Ingle, President of Southeast University
As an education leader, I believe in maximizing return on investment for taxpayers and our state. Recent efficiency studies show that for every $1 million in state support, private universities produce 265 degree recipients, compared with just 18 graduates in the public university system, a return on investment of 14.6 to 1.
But this is not just a matter of private versus public universities. It’s about justice, opportunity and choice. Why does student choice end at age 18? If we trust a family to know its 10th grader best, then we must also trust them to know their college freshman best.
In private schools, half of our students are minorities, and a similar proportion come from low-income families. By closing the gap between the $15,129 provided to public schools, the $4,889 provided to out-of-state students, and the $3,500 provided to independent schools, we are giving these students a path to a life of purpose without the burden of a crushing debt burden.
We must move beyond protecting the status quo of bloated bureaucracies and return to a model of empowering individuals. We need to align our spending with our values.
If we have the ability to subsidize the education of students across the country, we certainly have the ability to protect EASE grants, which truly reflect the rights and opportunities our Florida students deserve. Florida leads the way in K-12 school choice. Now is the time to complete the work of fully supporting universal choice for students from pre-K to 16 years old.
Congress and our state leaders are right to take action on school choice. Now, they must ensure that every Florida resident receives the education that best prepares them for their careers.
Kent Ingle is president of Lakeland Southeastern University.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Why Florida’s private colleges are better than the rest | Guest comments
