In an interview, task force chair Dale Brill explained that other, less intuitively career-oriented majors might also be covered by the tuition freeze. For example, Brill said, Florida State could reasonably lobby on behalf of its creative writing and film programs, which have had success vaulting students into the entertainment industry.

For some, it might seem inherently unfair to send dance majors deeper into debt just to keep tuition low for engineers, who are already poised to earn more once they graduate. Brill sees it otherwise. First, he said, tax dollars are scarce, and the public deserves the best possible return from its investment in education. That means spending more generously on the students who are most likely to help grow Florida's economy once they graduate. Second, he argued that too few young people consider their career prospects carefully when picking a major. "The tuition differential will increase the probability that there will be some introspection about careers and livelihoods," he said.

Ensuring that taxpayers get the biggest bang for their buck is an admirable goal. So is encouraging students to think ahead about their careers. The question is whether staggering tuition among majors will actually accomplish either.

To believe that it will, you have to accept two notions: First, you need to take it on faith that the government is capable of divining which majors are going to be the most marketable year after year. Second, you need to believe that there are a large number of talented undergrads who could hack it in these subjects, but are choosing easier majors instead.

I'm not sure either of those assumptions are sound.

With enough good data and clear judgment, Florida's legislature could theoretically figure out the types of students employers need and adjust tuition accordingly. But it would have to be nimble, because the job market for recent grads doesn't always shape up the way one would expect. In a January report, for instance, the Georgetown Center for Education and the Workforce found that journalism degree holders between the ages of 22 and 26 actually had a lower national unemployment rate than young mechanical engineers -- 7.7 percent versus 8.6 percent. Economics graduates had about the same rate as english literature BA's -- 9.1. percent versus 9.2 percent. And kids with computer science degrees were actually a bit behind their peers who studied communications -- 7.8 percent to 7.4 percent.

Suprising, right?

Would Florida's legislature react intelligently to that sort of data? Or would its decisions boil down to "Science: Good! English: Bad!"? Your guess is good as mine. But, as anybody with a healthy sense of conservatism should admit, the demands of the economy are probably going to move faster than any statehouse, and it's frighteningly easy to imagine schools one day down the road nudging kids into fields where the job market has dried up. Today, according to the Georgetown report, recently graduated architecture majors have a 13.9 percent unemployment rate. Now just imagine if Florida had been pushing kids to learn how to design McMansions during the housing boom.