MANATEE -- The State College of Florida is buying a new $71,000 Cadillac sport-utility vehicle for its top officials to use on college business, two months after the college raised students’ tuition and fees by 8 percent.

Last week, the college requested sealed bids for the price of a new “executive vehicle,” specifically a 2011 Cadillac Escalade Hybrid, a four-wheel-drive SUV with a six-liter, eight-cylinder engine. Cadillac bills it as “the world’s only full-size luxury hybrid SUV.”

The bid specifications call for an exterior with “white diamond tricoat” finish, an interior color of “cashmere with cocoa accents,” and “power retractable assist steps.” The specifications also call for excluding the sunroof, a savings of $995.

Standard features include leather seats with “contrasting-color French stitching,” and surfaces of brushed aluminum and “olive, ash and burled walnut wood trim.” It seats eight people.

Final price for an Escalade with those features: $71,685 before taxes, title and shipping, according to Cadillac’s website.

The college put out the request for bids on July 25, about nine weeks after its board of trustees expressed concern over the college’s financial health.

At the May 18 board meeting, officials said student enrollment had declined about 15 percent, and that expenses were rising. Trustees voted 5-1 to increase tuition and fees. For an in-state student pursuing a two-year degree, a year’s tuition will rise about $227, to $3,074 a year, according to the college’s website.

As part of the executive vehicle purchase, the college hopes to trade in another vehicle, a 2008 Lexus 400H hybrid sport-utility vehicle with 73,000 miles of use. Its value is about $27,500, according to the Kelley Blue Book website.

The net cost would be about $44,000 -- or the total amount of increased annual tuition paid by 193 students in two-year programs.

The bidding period closes Friday. College officials did not respond to questions by phone and email about who would use the vehicle, who chose the model and if it was appropriate when tuition was rising. Four trustees did not immediately return calls.

Newly appointed trustee Dr. Craig Trigueiro, a Bradenton physician, said by law he could not comment on a specific business transaction. But he said that in general he would closely watch financial matters.

“One of the charges the governor gave me was to not only give the students the best education they could possibly get, but do so at the best possible cost to the taxpayers,” Triguiero said.