Florida lawmakers propose merging Florida Poly, New College with UF, FSU
LAKELAND, Fla. - Two of Florida’s smallest public universities could merge with two of the state’s larger schools.
A new Florida house bill is proposing that Florida Polytechnic University in Lakeland and New College of Florida in Sarasota would no longer be their own independently accredited schools.
Under the proposal, Florida Polytechnic University would become a part of the University of Florida and New College of Florida would become an extension of Florida State University.
Lawmakers believe that merging the smaller colleges with the bigger universities would help manage the two schools’ limited resources and increase efficiency.
With costly degrees at Florida Polytechnic and New College, and low enrollment numbers, lawmakers add that the schools are costing taxpayers money and resources.
Similar degrees and programs are offered at the University of Florida and Florida State University, so students’ education could continue even if the merge went through.
In 2012, Rick Scott, who was governor at the time, signed a bill that designed Florida Polytechnic University as the 12th public university. At the time, it was a hot debate as lawmakers fought to take the University of South Florida’s Lakeland campus, USF Polytechnic, in order to create the newest public university.
The signature by Scott forced ties to be severed between the Lakeland campus and USF.
The history behind New College of Florida had three phases. It started as a private institution in 1960 before facing financial issues in the 1970s. By 1975, New College joined the USF system as an autonomous honors college. In 2001, it became the 11th public university.
Many have taken to social media in response to the announcement. Some people have said that they saw this coming due to financial issues, while others believe this merge won’t get very far.
“I feel like it would be a mixed bag of reactions just because a lot of students, we really care about Florida Poly, it’s something we hold dear to us," said Krystal Rivera, a junior at Florida Polytechnic University. "And it’s like part of our identity, so it’s like you see things here you don’t usually see in other universities. It’s more a specific set of characteristics and it’s more STEM-focused. I don’t think it would be a bad thing, I think it would be a very interesting thing."
“I feel like it would be interesting to see a collaboration, my only fear would be losing our uniqueness here at Polytechnic University,” said Rivera.
The House Education Committee is set to discuss the proposal at 10 a.m. Wednesday.