This week, the Florida House used the special budget session to revive a failed plan to give the University of South Florida’s Sarasota-Manatee campus to New College. At the heart of this deeply divisive issue is a recurring theme in Florida politics: elected officials and their deep-pocketed donors using institutions and the very real Floridians who rely on them as political pawns and a means to build hollow legacies they hope will paper over the very real damage they’ve collectively wrought.
During the 60-day legislative session earlier this year, the Florida House passed HB 5601, which included the transfer of the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee campus and associated debt to New College of Florida. However, the Senate Appropriations Committee stripped the transfer provision out of the bill entirely.
Senate higher education budget negotiator Gayle Harrell has publicly indicated the chamber is still resisting the proposal, saying this week that the Senate "might not budge," after the House approved language supporting the transfer as part of a higher education package tied to the state budget. Unsurprisingly, developer lackey Bill Conerly (R-Manatee County), who faces a primary challenge in August, voted in favor of the transfer. In a rare moment of independence, Rep. Will Robinson (R-Bradenton) did not.
The Senate’s version of that legislation still does not include the transfer. Because the House and Senate positions differ, the issue has gone to a conference committee, where it will likely be decided in closed-door budget negotiations ahead of the July 1 budget deadline.
We’ve already chronicled the sad demise of New College of Florida from a small, liberal arts honors college to Ron DeSantis’ “Hillsdale of the South.” The state underinvested in the school for decades until DeSantis stacked its board with political lackeys, and local developer Carlos Beruff helped orchestrate an administrative coup that ultimately saw former Florida House Speaker Richard Corcoran land a ridiculous million-dollar-plus-a-year contract as its new president.
Suddenly, the state was more eager than ever to pour money into the institution, adding sports teams, while Beruff used his position on the Sarasota-Manatee Airport Authority Board to push a plan to sell off land SRQ owned and would surely need in the future for the benefit of the school’s needless expansion. The Medallion Home mogul even donated a million bucks for the planned baseball stadium, to be named the “Beruff Family Field of Dreams.” Thankfully, the FAA shot down that hamfisted deal, although there will surely be more efforts to revive it.
RIP to everything New College, which is in Sarasota County, was. USF Sarasota-Manatee, located in Manatee County, currently serves as a satellite campus of the fourth-largest university in the State University System. It is a critically important institution that has served members of our community since 1975. It allows local students to save money on room and board by commuting from home, and older students to get a first-rate education part-time without lengthy commutes.
The school has approximately 200 students living on campus and about 1,300 full and part-time students in total. It has a separate and distinct character from New College, not to mention currently enrolled students, admitted freshmen, and fall transfers, all of whom should not have to worry about which school it will ultimately be.
What’s more, no one has articulated anything approaching a coherent reason as to how this will ultimately benefit the community. DeSantis will claim it as another victory in his “War on Woke,” Beruff will get his family name on a ballpark, and the continued growth of SRQ may well hit a (literal) wall once they manage to transfer airport land to what has already become the most expensive per-student school among the 12 colleges and universities in the Florida State University System.
The incoming President of the Florida Senate is Manatee County's own Jim Boyd, who should have enough juice to keep the status quo if he really wants to. Let's see if his chamber stands firm and continues to resist this measure, which no one asked for and few people in his community seem to support.
Dennis "Mitch" Maley is an editor and columnist for The Bradenton Times and the host of our weekly podcast. With over two decades of experience as a journalist, he has covered Manatee County government since 2010. He is a graduate of Shippensburg University and later served as a Captain in the U.S. Army. Click here for his bio. Mitch's new novel, Fish Kill, is currently available and can be found, along with his previous books, here. He can be reached at editor@thebradentontimes.com.
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johnschussler
State legislators disliked New College before 2023 so starved it of funding. Then suddenly in 2023, they loved it and funded it. The state tried to buy 34 acres of Sarasota Bradenton Airport (SRQ) land near the passenger terminal. The Sarasota Manatee Airport Authority promoted that sale of airport land. Carlos Beruff is the longest serving airport authority board member. Fortunately, the Federal Aviation Administration stopped the sale of airport land to protect the airport’s long term land needs. State politicians have been trying to get the newly appointed FAA administrator in Washington to overturn that rejection for over a year.
State government officials then tried to get Ringling Museum land for New College but public outrage stopped them. Now they are trying to get USF-SM land and buildings for New College. There is public outrage over this too, but the New College makeover and expansion is at risk of failure so politicians are proceeding despite strong local opposition.
This all started when Governor DeSantis and several Florida politicians chose to expand a college that did not have land to expand upon. That big mistake could have been avoided if they had first checked the land situation. Being politicians, they will not admit their mistake. Instead, they will try to take land and facilities from other perfectly good institutions (SRQ airport, Ringling Museums, now USF-SM) to cover their mistake. Shameful behavior by many in our one party state government.
BTW, USF-SM students are local residents and many graduates are employed at local businesses, New College’s are not.
Saturday, May 16 Report this
GLEN GADFLY GIBELLINA
This proposal is a disservice to our students, our taxpayers, and our local economy for several critical reasons:
• Destruction of the Local Talent Pipeline: USF Sarasota-Manatee is a vital economic engine for Manatee County. It provides a direct pipeline of graduates in high-demand fields such as nursing, accounting, hospitality, and education. New College, with its liberal arts mission, does not offer these accredited professional programs. Losing this campus means losing the very workforce our local businesses depend on to grow and thrive.
• A Financial Burden on Taxpayers: Recent data shows a staggering disparity in efficiency. USF spends approximately $72,000 per degree, while New College’s costs have soared to nearly $500,000 per degree. To transfer a thriving, efficient campus and its $53 million in debt to an institution currently struggling with financial stability and declining enrollment is not a responsible use of public assets.
• Betrayal of Student Choice: Over 2,000 students chose USF for its status as a preeminent research university and its specific career-focused curriculum. Forcing a 'teach-out' period effectively evicts these students from their home campus and forces them to choose between a different academic model they didn't sign up for or a long, costly commute to Tampa or St. Petersburg.
• Lack of Transparency and Community Engagement: This proposal has moved forward without a single independent study or formal commission to analyze the risks. Our community—the business owners, the veterans, and the families who rely on USF—has been largely excluded from this decision-making process.
We should be investing in the growth of our established institutions, not sacrificing a successful regional pillar to bolster a neighboring school’s experimental transformation. I urge you to stand with the students and businesses of Manatee and Sarasota counties and oppose this transfer."
Saturday, May 16 Report this
ml.chickp
To be clear, if this transfer of acreage and buildings goes through to New College, NONE of the programs, professors, or students go with it. It is a LAND GRAB, plain and not so simple.
Sunday, May 17 Report this
pattybeenutty
All comments are s true and accurate.
NO, for the transfer of USF to Hillsdale of the South!!
Sunday, May 17 Report this
Lktinsanfran
Is it just me, but doesn't it seem redundant that politicians are involved in higher education?
Sunday, May 17 Report this