Florida college enrollment projected to increase for third straight year
Published Tuesday, the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center’s Preliminary Fall Enrollment Trends report found that the nation’s college and university enrollment increased by 2% this fall semester compared to last fall, with undergraduate enrollment leading the way at 2.4%. Florida, though, is projected to outpace national gains with a 3% increase across the board. More from the Tampa Bay Times and the South Florida Business Journal.
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» ‘We couldn’t take it anymore’: Fear of immigration arrests near schools in Florida reducing enrollment, officials say
'We're all getting frustrated': Florida lawmakers desperate to solve voucher funding mishaps
As Florida begins to release $60 million to address funding mistakes that hit families and schools in the vouchers system last year, lawmakers are continuing to scrutinize how the money is accounted for. At a key subcomittee hearing in the Florida House, legislators grilled voucher funding executives and one state education department director in search of answers on how to avoid another multi-million-dollar crisis as the popular school choice program expands. They addressed a major accounting issue: inaccurate student tracking. [Source: WLRN]
Teaching with tech
Across Florida, scenes like this are becoming more common as artificial intelligence (AI) makes its quiet but powerful entrance into the classroom. From elementary schools to technical colleges, educators are rethinking how students learn and how educators teach in an age where the “assistant” in education might just be powered by code. [Source: Florida Weekly]
State audit finds UCF most-efficient university, New College the least
The University of Central Florida offered the best value in producing alumni with degrees, according to a recent efficiency audit of the state’s public universities. New College of Florida, the hallmark of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ conservative overhaul of higher education, landed at the opposite end of the spectrum in an analysis of universities’ cost to produce a degree, the report from the Florida Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, found. More from the News Service of Florida and the Orlando Sentinel.
USF is planning a big development, and environmentalists have concerns
The Florida Board of Governors, which oversees the state’s public universities, voted to approve the University of South Florida’s proposed mixed-use Fletcher District at a meeting in Tampa last Thursday. Their vote approved the partnership between developers and the university, ensuring that state funds will pay for the project’s one academic building, and nothing else. The plan would convert the university’s old Claw golf course into housing, a hotel, conference center, retail, green spaces and the academic building. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]
ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› Alachua school board member fights state over free speech rights
An Alachua County school board member, who faced backlash over critical comments she made about Charlie Kirk, is accusing state education leaders of violating her free speech rights. An attorney representing school board member Tina Certain sent Florida Education Commissioner Anastasios "Stasi" Kamoutsas a letter, telling him Certain’s comments were protected political speech under the First Amendment and that the state didn’t have jurisdiction over elected school board members.
› Pinellas officials kick off public talks on closing, reusing schools
Pinellas County school enrollment is shrinking by thousands of students each year, with no expectation of growth for the foreseeable future. Officials on Wednesday turned to the public for ideas on how to deal with the decline that has left the school district with about 45,000 more seats than students. “This is one of the issues about why we’re coming to the community asking what we need to do in the future,” chief operating officer Jennifer Dull told a crowd of around 30 residents who came to Boca Ciega High School for the first of five town hall meetings.
› Palm Beach County school leaders lay out plan to expand career and technical education
The Palm Beach County School District is working on a plan to significantly increase the number of career and technical programs it offers students, following through on a push from school board members who see an opportunity to match high school graduates with high-paying employers who are struggling to find workers.
› Orange schools to convert old Cherokee School into arts, tech high school
Orange County Public Schools plans to renovate a century-old downtown Orlando campus and turn it into an arts and technology high school focused on cinematic arts, sound design and emerging media. The School of Arts & Entertainment at Cherokee will be housed at the old Cherokee School and serve about 650 students. OCPS hopes to open it for the 2028-29 school year.