support for a small US college going GNU?

I've been corresponding a little with the new CIO of my "alma mater"
(New College of Florida, a small public "liberal arts" school in
Sarasota) about switching the college over to GNU/Linux.  It seems
iffy, but if whole governments can do it, I think a small, liberal,
college ought to be able to achieve the same thing.  Furthermore, I
think the issue of security should cinch the argument.  But the CIO,
Erich Matola, points out that switching architectures would require
funding.  Presumably this is true; does anyone have an idea about the
actual numbers here?  Are there people out there who can get in a bid
that would blow MS/Apple out of the water?