The Impact of Culture Wars on Florida Universities

Education Policy Brief #84 | By: Rudolph Lurz | August 10, 2023

Photo taken from: https://www.rollingstone.com/

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Each year, US News & World Report and The Princeton Review release their rankings of higher education institutions. Practically nothing related to education escapes the quantitative analysis of these publications. They rank undergraduate programs, majors, graduate programs, schools of medicine and law, and even an institution’s reputation for partying. Universities care about these rankings, because higher institutional prestige leads to more applicants. When universities have a larger applicant pool to draw from, they get better incoming freshmen classes. More importantly, a higher ranking from Princeton Review or US News & World Report results in more donations to universities, improving an institution’s bottom line. A national ranking on a best colleges list resulted in a 61% increase in the number of million-dollar donations received, according to a study that evaluated nearly 1,500 colleges and universities. Colleges have even attempted to fudge the numbers which go into generating the annual rankings, with one exposed scandal at Columbia University resulting in a 16-place drop for the Ivy League institution. Following their precipitous fall, Columbia recently withdrew from the US News & World Report  rankings, and criticized the “outsized influence” of the rankings system.

Despite the outcry against US News & World Report and Princeton Review, universities are quick to celebrate their rankings when they show improvement or excellence. The University of Florida recently took a victory lap after being ranked in the top five nationally for public research universities.  Mori Hosseini, the chair of UF’s Board of Trustees, noted, “UF’s position in the rankings is reflective of our continual, rapid strengthening in teaching, learning and research performance — smaller class sizes, consistently high graduation and retention rates, and the increased value of each student’s degree after graduation—all of which in turn helps Florida be viewed as a national leader.”

The chair of UF’s Faculty Senate, Amanda Phalin, stated, “At the end of the day, our university’s reputation comes down not to what is happening around us, but what we do — our outstanding teaching and research…This ranking is a testament to the skills and passion, individually and collectively, of us, the UF faculty.”

State universities are an engine for economic growth and good jobs. As Phalin noted, the quality of a school’s faculty is an essential part of developing institutional prestige. That prestige is presently facing a threat from the ongoing battle against “wokeness” led by Governor Ron DeSantis. Andrew Gothard, state-level president of the United Faculty of Florida labor union, is predicting a 20-30% turnover rate among faculty at some state universities. Kenneth Nunn, who recently retired after 30 years at the University of Florida’s Levin College of Law, noted, “Florida is toxic…It has been many years since we last hired an entry-level African American faculty member. They’re just not interested in being in a place where something with the stature of critical race theory is being denigrated and attacked.”

Analysis

Rankings like US News & World Report and Princeton Review have long been criticized by academic professionals. They are seen as inaccurate at best, and reinforcing economic inequality at worst. US News & World Report, in response to the backlash from Columbia and other Ivy League institutions, revamped how it calculates its law school rankings, using only publicly-available data instead of the often-flawed internal reports submitted to the publication. 

Regardless of the efficacy or ethics of these rankings, the de facto situation is that they are incredibly important for schools. They are a central element, and often the determining factor, of how students make their college choices. Since they are important, they cannot be ignored. 

If high-quality professors and students actively avoid Florida’s schools because of a perceived toxic atmosphere, that will inevitably impact Florida’s position on future rankings in US News & World Report and Princeton Review. If the ranking of Florida institutions slips, and a “brain drain” of students and faculty results, the consequence will be a major economic loss for the state. 

For Governor DeSantis, who won re-election because of Florida’s strong economic performance during his tenure, that is a direct threat to his viability as a national political candidate in the Republican Party. 

The Governor’s culture war is popular with social conservatives, and has provided ample material for stump speeches during his run for the presidency. Social conservatives might be alarmed by CRT and think DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) offices are secret agencies to indoctrinate the youth into the so-called woke agenda. With each attack on LGBTQ+, CRT, DEI, or any other “woke” acronym, Governor DeSantis rallies his base. The issue with Florida’s brain drain is simple. 

Scholars, professors, and academic professionals are what the Governor’s base would call “woke”.

These folks do not like the Governor’s policies and are quite alarmed by them. Many elite students from both inside and outside the Sunshine State, who would otherwise have attended schools like the University of Florida, are being scared away. 

How many biology and chemistry PhDs are accepting different university jobs at this moment? What other states will reap the rewards of those scientists’ future patents and research grants? How many National Merit Scholars are choosing schools outside Florida? What kind of tax revenue will Florida lose once those graduates create start-up companies in Michigan or Maryland instead of Florida? Florida is already losing millions due to conventions selecting alternate locations. How many millions will it take before the Governor’s vaunted budget surplus begins to wither away?

Governor DeSantis likes to say, “Go woke, go broke,” on the campaign trail. He would be wise to revise that slogan. Higher education is not Bud Light. Scholars are leaving the state, taking their economic impact with them. 

The coming brain drain will soon hit Florida’s rankings in US News & World Report, and then its economy. As Governor DeSantis ponders his next move in his culture war against wokeness, he should consider if the juice is worth the squeeze. 

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