TALLAHASSEE — By 2030, state university system leaders want Florida Atlantic University and the University of North Florida to be ranked in the top 100 public universities by U.S. News & World Report.
The goal, if achieved, would mean that eight of the state’s 12 universities would be in the top 100 nationally.
As they reviewed a strategic plan during a meeting last week, members of the system’s Board of Governors spent a good chunk of time focused on the closely watched — and controversial — U.S. News & World Report lists.
While the strategic plan also includes issues such as bumping up research expenditures, improving graduation rates and boosting median wages of students who earn bachelor’s degrees, moving schools up in the rankings is viewed as a priority.
By 2030, the board wants Florida State University to join the University of Florida in the top 10 public universities and the University of South Florida to become the state’s third school with a top 25 ranking. The plan also seeks to have the University of Central Florida join Florida International University among the top 50 and to bring FAU and UNF into the top 100.
Florida A&M University has been in the top 100 the past two years, landing at 81 on this year’s list.
Board member Eric Silagy said he’d like to see projections on how Florida universities would be ranked if the state’s relatively low tuition rates were taken out of the metrics.
“We’ve been blessed with a lot of support from the Legislature and the governor on keeping tuition very low,” Silagy said.
“Would we really be stretching (on other metrics)?” Silagy continued. “How much of a stretch would we have? Would we have a different bar to clear if we didn’t have billions of dollars in annual subsidies?”
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Student debt and financial resources per student account for a combined 13 percent of the U.S. News factors used in ranking universities.
The rankings also consider issues such as graduation rates, first-year student retention rates, graduate earnings, peer assessments, faculty salaries and student-faculty ratios.
Graduation rates and peer assessments are the only areas that account for at least 15 percent of a school’s ranking.
Over the past decade, state officials have placed an increased importance on the rankings. The University of Florida ranked seventh nationally this year among public universities, slipping a place each of the past two years.
The focus on U.S. News & World Report rankings, however, has drawn controversy in academic circles, with criticism focused on the criteria that the online magazine uses and perceived campaigns by schools for higher rankings.
The New York Times last month reported that former University of Florida President Ben Sasse disagreed with the school’s emphasis on the rankings. Sasse resigned from the presidency in July, citing his wife’s health. Reports also have raised questions about spending by the president’s office under Sasse.
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