Will budget cuts flunk the state universities?

Florida has five of the nation's 15 largest universities but only one of the nation's top 50 in quality. When students and their parents walk on campuses, they see new buildings and new law schools, medical schools and football teams.

But inside, core classes like history pack in 250 students, part-time instructors do much of the work that professors used to do, and students grind out extra semesters without graduating because the classes they need are full or advisement staffs are too thin to guide them through their majors.

Already lumped in with the nation's bottom third, Florida's university system must contend with cutting up to 10 percent of its budgets -- a statewide hit on academics of as much as $232 million. With more lean budget years on the way, academic leaders worry that a further plunge in quality would undermine Florida's ability to compete with other state economies.

''We are like a developing country because the demand for services outstrips the supply,'' said Mark Rosenberg, the state university chancellor and an expert on Latin America.

Cheap tuition and generous merit scholarships have fed rapid growth -- about 300,000 students enrolled this year -- and kept the best students from fleeing. But faculty hiring freezes and enrollment caps threaten to deny thousands of average students the opportunity to attend public universities.

''Every time the universities have kind of moved ahead, within a short period of time there's been a crisis,'' said Larry Abele, of Florida State University, the state's longest-serving chief academic officer and a leader in the quality discussion.

State spending on the 11 public universities has grown every year, but it hasn't kept pace with student growth, leaving Florida with the second-poorest teacher-student ratio in the country, besting only post-Katrina Louisiana.

Last month, schools announced they would freeze hiring and limit the number of freshmen admitted in response to Gov. Charlie Crist's demand that state agencies prepare for cuts of 4 percent to 10 percent. That's a loss of $100 million to $232 million from the universities' $2.3 billion operating budget.

Even before the latest crunch, Rosenberg and other university leaders began to speak with increasing bluntness. Rosenberg released a report last month that warned that ``the global economy will not wait for our state to get its act together.''

And Alceste Pappas, a consultant for many of the nation's best university systems, concluded that Florida has too many hurdles to even begin to plan a top-flight system like those in California, North Carolina or New York.

Stanley Fish, a renowned scholar now teaching at Florida International University, published a column in The New York Times claiming, ``Florida does not have a single campus that measures up to the best schools in the systems of Virginia, Wisconsin and Georgia, never mind first-tier states like California, Michigan and North Carolina.''

Abele and Rosenberg say the university system ranks in the bottom third. That's unacceptable for an influential ''mega-trend'' state, with an economy larger than those of many sovereign nations, Rosenberg said.

The most influential measure, U.S. News & World Report rankings, has flaws, including biases that favor older schools, Rosenberg said. But the magazine's conclusions about Florida schools are reinforced by other rankings that consider research accomplishments, graduation rates, available space and the number of full-time faculty members. Except for the University of Florida and FSU, Florida's other mega-schools linger in the bottom third and fourth tiers of U.S. News' rankings.

''That's the one [ranking system] you can find in almost every airport, for God's sake. It's striking you in the face,'' Rosenberg said.

The poor rankings are not for lack of ambition. Every school in the state has an improvement plan.

UF's board wants the Gainesville school ranked in the top 10 among public schools -- up from 17 in U.S. News rankings.

FSU wants to become a member of the Association of American Universities, an invitation-only group of 62 research schools that includes only one Florida school -- UF.

FIU wants to be among the nation's top 10 urban-serving research universities by 2015.

Florida Atlantic University trustees are planning a retreat next month to chart that school's goal.

Goals will be difficult to meet when schools are struggling to maintain current standards. At FIU, psychology is among the most popular departments -- with 2,400 students choosing it as a major and 16,000 enrolling in classes. But with only 19 permanent full-time professors, the school relies on part-time instructors to teach 70 percent of the classes, said Suzanna Rose, who chairs the department.

A recent outside review concluded that the department should have 45 full-time faculty members.

''You want to have a critical mass in your area, and if it looks like the university isn't headed that way, your career is going to be affected and you might as well go somewhere else,'' Rose said.

UF law Professor Danaya Wright said she and her colleagues are discouraged from making too many photocopies for students -- an effort to save money. She spent a year as head of UF's faculty senate and is now ''disillusioned with the state of Florida'' and contemplating leaving.

At FSU, students have long been encouraged to sign up for research projects, where they work one-on-one with a professor. It's the kind of signature class that distinguishes a research-university education. But even as the undergraduate population has grown from 18,000 to 28,000 students, FSU cannot afford to raise the number of slots in the program -- 3,000.

FSU's Abele says small-group writing classes, academic advising and courses in critical thinking are all below par throughout Florida's public universities -- keeping the percentage of students who graduate within six years below 50 percent at seven of the state's 11 universities.

''I think the education is fine. What the problem is at FIU is the services,'' said Gabriel Medina, 20, an FIU history major who lives in Kendall. ``They give you the runaround.''

Medina said he knows how to navigate the system. He gets friends with higher enrollment priority to sign up for the classes he needs and then drop them just before he registers so he can take their slot.

Other students make compromises to find classes that fit their schedules.

''They get filled up really fast,'' said Antonio Urbina, a 23-year-old FIU student who lives in Weston. ``Most of them, I have to take them online.''

Florida maintains one of the lowest tuitions in the nation at its schools -- an average of $3,336 a year for residents, or about $2,500 less than the national average.

That has allowed more students to enroll, although the state received an F grade in The National Report Card on Higher Education's affordability survey.

Financial aid for the poorest students is limited to $150 million because $400 million in aid goes to Bright Futures, merit-based aid for students who, among other things, keep a B average or better regardless of family income.

Some Florida schools are phasing in higher tuition with promises of more need-based aid. Still, there is a lot of catching up, and an expected $1,000 increase in tuition over four years at the larger schools may not bring the full upgrade that some are expecting.

FIU President Modesto Maidique has said he needs to hire 200 to 300 professors to bring his school up to national standards. FAU needs 123 more professors, said Vice President Aileen Izquierdo.

Meanwhile, workers in cranes build new buildings on campuses throughout the state, financed through bonds, state building accounts and donations. A new art museum at FIU is nearly complete. A new basketball stadium at the University of Central Florida will open Sept. 8. FIU has a new law-school building and is planning a new football stadium.

This year, the university system will have $100 million in state grants to disburse for ''Centers of Excellence'' -- promising research projects that show potential for selling products in the marketplace.

Florida ranks 34th in spending per student at its universities when agricultural extension campuses, libraries, student services and other projects outside the classroom are included. But the state ranks 41st in money spent on actually teaching students.

Former Gov. Bob Graham, who remains an active player in higher-education politics, said Florida has not made universities a priority.

''Universities, more than any other institutions, set a tone for the state and tend to influence its development, particularly its economic development,'' Graham said. ``I don't think there's been a full appreciation of that by the political and business leadership of Florida, and we've suffered as a consequence.''