- New College of Florida (NCF) will request $420 million in state investment to support conservative changes.
- This number translates to a staggering capital expenditure ratio of $600,000 per student for the small Sarasota campus, which has an enrollment of less than 700 students.
- NCF's financial plan relies heavily on significant financial investment and flexibility compared to other state schools.
- Another document appears to show the school plans to increase President Richard Corcoran's compensation by more than $1.1 million for the 2024 school year.
New College of Florida's (NCF) long-awaited business plan presentation scheduled for Wednesday afternoon includes direct and indirect efforts by the state Legislature to maintain the school's conservative makeover already underway. The bill is expected to include a request for $420 million in state investment. According to documents submitted to the board before the meeting. If the funding request is approved, the school would have an unusually high capital expenditure ratio of $600,000 per student for the state's smallest higher education institution. New College currently enrolls less than 700 students at its small beachfront campus in Sarasota.
The $420 million figure was included in an updated business plan prepared ahead of Wednesday's meeting. This figure was not included in the pre-filed business plan submitted to the board in August, but other eye-popping amounts and related questions included in the August plan , has already begun to raise eyebrows even among Tallahassee Republicans who were otherwise sympathetic.Florida Senate President Kathleen Passidomo said to capitalist Last week, she said she was concerned and hoped her colleagues would “take a closer look at the plan” when lawmakers convene to set next year's budget.
Wednesday's presentation will take place on the campus of the state's largest school, the University of Central Florida, and will set up a sharp and unfavorable comparison between the two schools. If UCF were to require the same fixed capital expenditures that NCF claims is $600,000 per student, UCF would be $66,000. Registrants will need more than $40 billion.
The strategic shift toward universities, which Republican leaders hope will become conservative intellectual hubs, is part of a broader state education reform plan under the governor's leadership. Ron DeSantis, he showed little tolerance for progressive educational experimentation. But Republican lawmakers have indicated they intend to give NCF wide latitude to make needed reforms at the school, which has suffered years of declining enrollment.
Still, financial plans are rapidly expanding under the new chairman. Richard Corcoranis an ally of DeSantis, and has come under increasing scrutiny for its size and the burden it places on taxpayers. Corcoran's high salary also hasn't helped calm Republican fears. Line items from previously submitted budgets. This will also be retrieved. capitalist, New College appears to have indicated that it expects Corcoran's total compensation to reach nearly $1.06 million during the 2024 academic year.
The NCF business plan approved by Corcoran divides the $420 million capital expenditure requirement among several financial departments. The first $227 million is requested in the form of “direct state investment,” a further $173 million is requested as “indirect investment,” and the final $20 million is in the form of “debt forgiveness” or debt relief. requested. The funds will be used for a variety of initiatives, including facility upgrades, increased enrollment and program expansion. In terms of per-student funding, its costs are much higher than other public institutions of higher education in Florida.
But some of the facilities themselves are controversial, such as plans already in motion for equipment and facilities needed to support school bass fishing teams and similar efforts. NCF's Board of Trustees was forced to convene Monday night to clean up an accounting mess that occurred after nearly $600,000 in taxpayer money was improperly spent on the school's athletic programs. However, the program is required by law to be self-supporting and unprofitable. in regular state dollars.
Trustees voted 5-2 in favor of a plan to use $6.4 million in “carryover money,” or leftover funds from the previous year, to replace improperly used campaign funds.
