ST. PETERSBUG, Fla. — A bill proposed in the Florida House would combine three USF universities into one accredited university system.

Currently USF St. Petersburg, USF Sarasota-Manatee, and USF Tampa all have their own accreditation, but that could change if new legislation is passed.

“We used to not have our own separate accreditation and we had to go through Tampa for everything and faculty that was there at that time could tell you that it was a mess,” Samantha Fiore a sophomore at USF St. Pete said. “And, we have come a long long way as a university and we have so many things to be proud about.”

Fiore said she is part of USF student government. On Thursday, they held a policy committee meeting to discuss what position student government should take on the issue.

“They are kind of keeping us in the dark and I disagree with that as well I feel we should know exactly what is going on and what could happen,” Fiore said.

Common questions we heard from students were about how the school would be run? Would their tuition go up? Would the campus grow to a larger size to accommodate more students? And what the new accreditation would mean for students graduating around the time it is implemented. Students said there are pros and cons but they need more information. Some even starting an online petition against the bill.

"I feel like the Florida legislation said ‘this is happening and you can’t stop it,’” USF St. Pete student Anthony Greggo said. "There needs to be a conversation.”

The class size, environment, and campus are also a part of the charm students don’t want to lose.

“I did apply to USF St. Pete, “Jadzia Duarte said. “I didn’t apply to Tampa, I didn’t apply to Sarasota, I applied here for special reasons like our small campus.”

University officials told ABC Action News that under the current proposal the USF Board of Trustees would have until Jan. 15, 2019 to develop an implementation plan and the separate accreditation for USF St. Petersburg and USF Sarasota-Manatee would have to be phased no later than June 30, 2020.

USF System President Judy Genshaft released this statement: