Florida leaders celebrate higher ed rankings success while touting low tuition, anti-DEI policies

Florida leaders spoke at the University of Florida to highlight seven of Florida’s public universities being recognized in the Top 100 of U.S. News and World Report’s annual rankings.

Gov. Ron DeSantis, State University System Chancellor Ray Rodrigues and others were on hand in Gainesville. UF ranked seventh in the annual rankings, followed by Florida State University at No. 21, the University of South Florida at No. 43, Florida International University at No. 46, the University of Central Florida at No. 57, Florida A&M University at No. 92 and Florida Atlantic University at No. 100.

DeSantis highlighted the state’s changes to require post-tenure review, as conservatives are making changes in higher education .

“We want to make sure that we are bringing in very great people to be able to teach students. But that’s about really fulfilling the core mission of the university. It’s not some tenure professor just has their own agenda and are doing activism and things like that,” DeSantis said Monday. “We’re not going to underwrite that as the state of Florida.”

But DeSantis and Rodrigues did not address concerns about professors leaving Florida because of backlash over the state’s controversial changes.

Speaking Monday, Rodrigues also said the legal challenges to a 2023 law targeting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) at Florida’s universities was dismissed last week.

“The other states just don’t have the stomach to take on the fight to clear this out of their general education curriculum. But Florida has led the way and now we have shown it can be done,” State University System Chancellor Ray Rodriguez said. “So let’s hope others follow.”

The Florida chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sued Florida over the legislation (SB 266). An ACLU of Florida attorney called the law “an alarming overreach of government control, threatening the very foundation of free expression in Florida’s public universities.”

Rodrigues also touted that about 80% of Florida university students haven’t taken out any loans to pay for their education, according to the latest numbers from this Fall’s semester.

“Debt is driving higher education outside of Florida but not here in Florida,” Rodrigues said.

DeSantis noted that tuition has remained low, making Florida colleges and universities affordable. He said later this Fall the state could release the results of a Department of Government Efficiency investigation at Florida universities to probe how the schools are spending taxpayer money.

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