{"id":1878,"date":"2026-05-27T19:35:44","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T19:35:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=1878"},"modified":"2026-05-27T19:35:44","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T19:35:44","slug":"ucf-misses-out-on-millions-in-state-preeminent-university-funding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=1878","title":{"rendered":"UCF misses out on millions in state \u2018preeminent\u2019 university funding"},"content":{"rendered":"
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After chasing top status for years, the University of Central Florida will now miss out on the tens of millions of dollars in additional funding it expected for its recent designation as one of the state\u2019s best universities.<\/p>\n

Read more $4M for Groveland Four families comes after decades of fighting for justice<\/a><\/p>\n

In September, UCF announced that it had achieved \u201cpreeminent\u201d status \u2014 a state designation for Florida universities that achieve certain high standards including graduation rates, national rankings and research dollars earned. Being a preeminent state university has, in the past, come with substantial additional money from the Florida Legislature, which UCF leaders said they planned to use for faculty raises.<\/p>\n

Last year, the University of Florida, Florida State University, the University of South Florida and Florida International University split a pot of $40 million for preeminent funding. The year before that, the schools split $100 million.<\/p>\n

But this year, lawmakers slashed all funding to the program. Florida\u2019s Senate asked for $100 million for preeminent universities this year, but the Florida House balked.<\/p>\n

UCF did not respond to requests for comment on the lost funding.<\/p>\n

State Rep. Anna Eskamani (D-Orlando), a UCF alumna, said the cuts were \u201cincredibly disappointing\u201d considering how hard UCF\u2019s faculty worked to earn the school its new status.<\/p>\n

She said the cuts came at the direction of Florida House Speaker Daniel Perez, and that it boiled down to \u201cpreference versus merit\u201d for lawmakers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a body that continuously says they care about merit. Everything should be merit-based. The preeminence program is probably the most clear example of meritocracy, and you\u2019re not even following it,\u201d Eskamani said.<\/p>\n

Read more Blue Origin lines up 1st New Glenn launch since rocket was grounded<\/a><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Perez\u2019s office did not respond to an inquiry from the Orlando Sentinel.<\/p>\n

University funding in Florida\u2019s budget heavily favors UF and FSU, which mirrors the two schools\u2019 dominance in the Florida Legislature. Eskamani argued the two universities have an \u201coutsized influence\u201d in Tallahassee, given many lawmakers are alumni. Perez attended FSU.<\/p>\n

Despite UCF having the largest enrollment of any Florida university at about 70,000, it sees about half as much total funding\u00a0as UF and FSU, according to an analysis of Florida\u2019s proposed budget.<\/p>\n

UCF still could see additional state funding from being a preeminent university in the future, depending on how the next Florida House Speaker feels about the program, Eskamani said.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Robert Cassanello, the president of the United Faculty of Florida and a UCF history professor, said that he wasn\u2019t surprised at the Legislature\u2019s decision to eliminate the funds.<\/p>\n

\u201cUCF should have expected this since lawmakers were saying this was a tight budget year. Their priorities in Tallahassee are not supportive of our college and university systems,\u201d he wrote in a text message.<\/p>\n

He said the cuts, combined with the state\u2019s attacks on higher education autonomy, faculty and academic freedom, show that lawmakers are \u201cnot interested in making our public colleges and universities premier in any way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Maxwell: Florida tax dollars wasted on Charlie Kirk settlement and clown show CFO<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In September, the University of Central Florida announced it had achieved \u201cpreeminent\u201d status for its high performance, but the legislature did not approve the money that customarily comes with that distinction.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1877,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1878","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nUCF misses out on millions in state \u2018preeminent\u2019 university funding - Orlando Relocation Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=1878\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UCF misses out on millions in state \u2018preeminent\u2019 university funding - 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