On Tuesday, Novo Collegian Alliance, a not-for-profit organization composed of New College alumni and other supporters of the New College community, announced its endorsement of a proposal to privatize the school. Entitled Novum Collegium Fidelis, the plan was recently proposed by Nathan Allen, an alumnus who served as New College President Richard Corcoran’s vice president of strategy and special projects in 2023 and 2024.
"We have carefully monitored New College’s business situation and consider the College to be in a state of unparalleled crisis, involved in gross waste of its resources and, in the absence of new leadership and a new, credible business plan, unable to maintain its academic standards without an unjustifiable level of public expenditure," wrote Novo Collegian Alliance board members. "Academic program quality has declined precipitously since Richard Corcoran assumed the President’s Office, with a startling lack of pushback from the College’s Trustees. It is precisely in this environment that creative proposals are worth considering."
New College of Florida was founded in 1960 and opened as a private liberal arts college in 1964. The school encountered financial difficulties in the 1970s and was subsequently merged into the University of South Florida. In 2001, it became an autonomous college within the state university system.
In recent years, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has radically reinvented the school, increasing enrollment, lowering admission standards, and adding sports teams. The governor has also suggested that USF-Sarasota Manatee and/or the Ringling Museum could be merged with New College.
Allen laid out a multimillion-dollar proposal to wean New College from taxpayer funding over the next decade, fearing that the extraordinarily high cost per student resulting from the changes could represent a significant problem once Tallahassee loses interest in what has largely been seen as political theater at taxpayer expense. The plan would require a tuition increase while radically transforming the college for the second time in two years.
"The current situation is a tragedy as, historically, the College has been life-transforming for generations of students, achieved amazing academic results, and helped put Sarasota on the map as a city rich with cultural life," the letter continues. "Since becoming a publicly-sponsored College in 1975, New College has developed a record of returning the public investment with impressive academic results, enabling top-tier, personalized education for Florida residents from a variety of backgrounds at in-state tuition rates. But, this record has been marred by the failures of the current administration."
Click here to read the Novo Collegian Alliance board's letter in full.
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