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Credit: University of Central Florida\/Facebook<\/p>\nCredit: University of Central Florida\/Facebook<\/p>\n
The results are in.<\/p>\n
The task force charged with assessing State University System efficiencies released a 26-page report that found the University of Central Florida, the school with the largest enrollment, had the lowest cost to produce a degree from start to finish at $46,548, while New College of Florida had the highest at $494,715. New College has the fewest students in the state university system.<\/p>\n
Presented to the Board of Governors, the\u00a0report<\/a>\u00a0said the cost of university operating expenses per degree is the \u201ckey metric for measuring overall institutional efficiency.\u201d<\/p>\n Universities\u2019 annual operating expenses per student across the system increased from $16,792 in 2017-2018 to $22,217 in 2023-2024, or nearly 25%, not accounting for inflation. The report cites increase in payroll and labor costs as the main cost drivers.<\/p>\n The report tracks the universities\u2019 success in getting students into jobs. For purposes of the report, job placement is defined as those who within a year of graduating with a bachelor\u2019s, earn more than $40,000 annually or are in graduate school.<\/p>\n It found that New College of Florida has the lowest placement rate at 65%, followed by Florida A&M University with 70%. Conversely, Florida Polytechnic University ranks highest in the report for job placement with 81%, followed by University of West Florida with 80% and University of Florida with 79%.<\/p>\n FAMU graduates had the lowest median starting salary in the SUS at $45,800. The next closest is New College at $46,100. Florida Polytechnic had the highest at $66,800, followed by University of Florida at $58,200, each school with emphasis on science and technology.\u00a0<\/p>\n There were 657,000 applications to attend Florida universities in 2024, a 41% increase from 2018 when 466,000 students applied.<\/p>\n In 2023-2024, 27% of students took out student loans. That\u2019s compared to 40% of students in 2017-2018.\u00a0 Tuition did not increase.<\/p>\n The University of Florida had by far the most research revenue generation during fiscal year 2024, with $2.03 billion. The next closest was the University of South Florida at $612 million.<\/p>\n \u201cReally good insight and information, a lot for the universities to take in and consider and note that the BOG also is taking this quite seriously and we know there\u2019s a chance to get better here,\u201d Board of Governors chair Brian Lamb said during the meeting at University of South Florida.<\/p>\n The report is an attempt to bring transparency to the SUS given about two-thirds of the $5.8 billion SUS budget is paid by state dollars. Student tuition accounts for just $2 billion.<\/p>\n The report also stems in part from a dispute between BOG\u00a0member Eric Silagy and New College of Florida President\u00a0Richard Corcoran. Silagy claimed New College was spending more than $91,000 annually to educate each student while Corcoran said it was $68,000 annually.<\/p>\n The report\u2019s findings weren\u2019t lost on Silagy Thursday.<\/p>\n \u201cThank you for your team\u2019s work on this, for pulling together the data, so there can be really no question anymore about what the numbers really are and that\u2019s not an excuse anymore,\u201d Silagy said, a reference to his prior math disagreements with Corcoran.<\/p>\n The report recommended that universities improve budget and financial reporting and suggested requiring universities to track and report on \u201ckey metrics.\u201d<\/p>\n New College questions<\/p>\n In September 2024, Silagy\u00a0questioned\u00a0the financial future of New College.\u00a0<\/p>\n Those questions\u00a0rose again<\/a>\u00a0during the board\u2019s January meeting this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n During that meeting, Vice Chair Alan Levine acknowledged during his tenure on the board, balance sheets and other financial metrics were not actively reviewed. He suggested putting together \u201ca more transparent scorecard of university finances and some of the metrics that we look at in terms of cash management and things like that.\u201d<\/p>\n In February, Gov. Ron DeSantis called for a \u201cdeep dive\u201d into state universities and looked to eliminate spending that decision makers deemed unnecessary.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the DOGE-ing of our state university system,\u201d DeSantis said in February during a news conference in Tampa announcing the audit. \u201cAnd I think it\u2019s going to be good for taxpayers and it\u2019s ultimately going to be good for students, as well.\u201d<\/p>\n The report Thursday did not include detailed information about particular programs.<\/p>\n In other business<\/p>\n Also during the BOG meeting, governors extended University of Central Florida President Alexander Cartwright\u2019s contract for another year, through the end of 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n The BOG will vote on University of North Florida President Moez Limayem\u2019s move to be president of University of South Florida during its next meeting.\u00a0<\/p>\n SUS Chancellor Ray Rodrigues said he will provide an update on DeSantis\u2019 call to \u201cpull the plug<\/a>\u201d on H-1B visas in January.<\/p>\n Regarding the safety summit last month, following the\u00a0shooting<\/a>\u00a0at Florida State University, stakeholders\u00a0recommended<\/a>\u00a0universities identify doors without locks and plan to \u201caddress these vulnerabilities\u201d and \u201caddress rooftop access to ensure these areas are secure.\u201d That comes after Charlie Kirk was\u00a0killed<\/a>\u00a0on a college campus in Utah. His alleged assassin was on a rooftop of an academic building.\u00a0<\/p>\n The\u00a0recommendations\u00a0also focused heavily on communication protocol in times of emergency.<\/p>\n Lastly, Lamb did not seek another term as chair of the board. Levine was voted chair for 2026 and Tim Cerio voted vice chair.<\/p>\n Florida Phoenix<\/a>\u00a0is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Contact Michael Moline for questions:\u00a0info@floridaphoenix.com<\/a>. Follow Florida Phoenix on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Twitter<\/a>.<\/p>\n Subscribe to Orlando Weekly newsletters.<\/a><\/p>\n Follow us:\u00a0Apple News<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Google News<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0NewsBreak<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Reddit<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Instagram<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Facebook\u00a0<\/a>|\u00a0Bluesky<\/a>\u00a0| Or sign up for our\u00a0RSS Feed<\/a><\/p>\n Related Stories<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\tThe report found that UCF, the school with the largest enrollment, had the lowest cost to produce a degree from start to finish. \t\t\t\t<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Screenshot-2025-11-05-at-12.21.41-PM-1024x766-1.png\")
Credit: Cost to produce a degree throughout a student\u2019s span at the institution. (Screenshot via Board of Governors report)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Screenshot-2025-11-05-at-12.19.46-PM.png\")
Credit: Operating expenses per student per university, the data point in question at previous BOG meetings. (Screenshot via Board of Governors report)<\/p>\n
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