A bombshell of a Florida House bill (read it here) was heard Wednesday by the Education Committee would consolidate Florida Polytechnic University into the University of Florida and Sarasota’s New College into Florida State University. Rep. Randy Fine, a backer.
“We have an obligation to taxpayers to generate degrees at the lowest possible cost. Unfortunately, degrees earned from Florida Poly and New College cost an order of magnitude more than they do at the other 10 universities,” state Rep. Randy Fine told the Florida Politics website, which first reported the consolidation effort.
The bombshell university consolidation bill that would abolish New College of Florida and Florida Polytechnic University as independent entities has been filed in the Florida House.
The legislation targets the two youngest members of Florida’s university system. New College became the 11th member of the system in 2001, while Florida Polytechnic became the 12th in 2012.
New College would become part of Florida State University under the proposal, while Florida Polytechnic would become part of the University of Florida. Each school would cease to exist as an independently accredited academic institution, with their properties transferred to FSU and UF.