New College of Florida Absorbs a USF Campus. Sort Of.

The University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee campus now belongs to New College of Florida.

Kind of. Tentatively. It’s complicated.

A state law technically transferred the 32-acre campus to New College on July 1, greatly expanding the footprint of an institution that Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has made the poster child for his conservative makeover of higher ed. The Sarasota-Manatee campus was right next door to New College, and now it’s part of it.

But the new law doesn’t transfer USF’s students, who get to remain on the campus while they finish their degrees—for up to four years. It also says any student whom USF admitted to the Sarasota-Manatee campus before July 1 gets “highest priority” for space “in any transferred property.” This opportunity will last a “reasonable period of time,” as determined by USF’s Board of Trustees.

As of last fall, about 1,600 USF students called Sarasota-Manatee their home campus, a South Florida spokesperson said. It’s unclear exactly how many students dropped out or transferred to the two other USF campuses—or to other universities—as the proposed transfer gained traction and eventually became law.

But, in a June 29 public message, USF President Moez Limayem said, “More than 1,000 students will be part of the [Sarasota-Manatee] teach-out.” That involves USF faculty teaching USF students on the Sarasota-Manatee campus so they have the chance to finish their degrees and earn USF diplomas. That 1,000-plus figure is larger than New College’s last enrollment reported by the Education Department, which was just under 900.

The law also didn’t transfer the USF Sarasota-Manatee faculty or staff to New College. While the Florida House had pushed to effectively transfer $22 million in recurring funds associated with the Sarasota-Manatee campus to New College, that money ended up staying with USF after negotiations with the state Senate to pass the legislation.

USF retains campuses in Tampa and St. Petersburg. Limayem said that among the 137 faculty at Sarasota-Manatee, “the overwhelming majority already have been matched with roles in Tampa or St. Petersburg and deans continue to work with those still exploring options. We have surveyed and will be meeting with the 120 staff and administrative team members as well.”

David Simmons, president of the USF Faculty Senate, told Inside Higher Ed he doesn’t expect USF’s overall student population to drop after the loss of the campus, so the faculty and staff will be needed.

“There are places where we certainly have needs for additional faculty on the instruction side,” Simmons said.

Jonathan Scott Perry, the outgoing vice president of the USF Faculty Senate and a vocal opponent of the transfer, said he’s been permanently moved from the Sarasota-Manatee campus to Tampa.

“The [USF] president did promise that all of the faculty would be moved to the Tampa or St. Pete campuses, and as far as I know that has happened,” Perry said.

New College provided Inside Higher Ed its floor plans for how specific rooms on the Sarasota-Manatee campus will be allocated during the teach-out, with green shading for USF space, white for New College and pink for shared space. The plans show that large spaces remain dedicated to USF.

“The transition is proceeding extremely smoothly and professionally for all involved,” New College spokesperson Jamie Miller wrote in an email to Inside Higher Ed. “New College is working seamlessly with USF and will use the space allocated to us in the attached floorplans. This arrangement will allow USF to meet its obligations to faculty and students while allowing New College to grow in a sustainable way to meet the higher education needs of the Southwest Florida region.”

Perry, though, said he doesn’t think the USF teach-out will go well.

“They’re going to have to find classes, times, who’s going to teach the class, when,” he said. “I really think this teach-out is going to be a catastrophe.”

The law also contains another caveat to the campus transfer. On July 1, New College had to start paying USF about $167,000 monthly to pay down debt for the facilities it’s receiving, and it must assume responsibility for tens of millions of dollars in debt by Dec. 31—or the facilities revert to USF.

Perry said he doesn’t think New College, which has been spending significant operating dollars per student—$83,207 each in fiscal year 2024, compared to $45,765 at the University of Florida, according to the Florida Department of Government Efficiency—will be able to afford this debt. Though it provided some information via email, New College didn’t provide interviews for this article.

Community Opponents

When and how the transfer idea arose is unclear. Former USF Board Chair Will Weatherford said on X that “USF has been engaged in discussions on this issue with New College, the [state] Board of Governors, [State University System of Florida] Chancellor Ray Rodrigues, the Florida Legislature and Governor’s Office since September 2024 when the BOG asked us to work together on a path forward for our two institutions.”

WUSF, which had a studio on the Sarasota-Manatee campus, revealed a draft New College news release from January 2025 announcing it would take over the campus.

In December, DeSantis publicly backed the idea by putting it in his proposed budget for this fiscal year. After fits and starts in the Legislature, lawmakers ended up approving the transfer as part of a budget-session bill they passed in May by a wide margin.

DeSantis signed House Bill 5601E into law June 29. The law said that on July 1—two days later—“all real property encompassing” the campus “must be transferred to the board of trustees of New College of Florida.”

Among those mourning the loss of the campus is Nancy Parrish, president of Citizens to Protect the Ringling and USF Sarasota-Manatee (the Ringling refers to other property New College tried to absorb, but didn’t).

Parrish told Inside Higher Ed that lawmakers “shut down this beloved regional university.” Meanwhile, she said, New College “has one benefactor—that’s Tallahassee.” And when lawmakers tire of it, or are released from political pressure to fund it, or can’t handle the political blowback from spending more taxpayer money on it, the college will “be in serious financial trouble,” Parrish said.

The Sarasota-Manatee campus hosted programs such as teaching and nursing that New College, “a liberal arts college, broadly speaking,” doesn’t have, Parrish said.

“These were the programs this community needed,” she said.

Laurey Stryker, who was president of the campus when it opened in 2006 and started the Save USFSM coalition, said the campus long served as a place for working professionals to earn degrees.

“You have a lame-duck governor who got this done as he was leaving office,” she said. “But all the impacts are going to be on the community. He’s not going to have to face those.”

“There was nothing that ever explained why this was a great idea,” Stryker said.

Simmons, the USF Faculty Senate president, said the USF president “has brought a really tight focus on making sure that our students, our faculty and our staff have a really strong support in this transition.” He said, “I’ve certainly heard disappointment from our colleagues and students and community members,” but “we have to and are moving forward.”