Supporters of University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee (USF-SM) have only a few more days to convince Florida legislators that the local campus is worth saving. Legislators meet in Tallahassee to begin the process of deciding who gets money and who doesn’t during the budget session May 12-28.

USF-SM is on the chopping block as part of HB 5601, a proposal to transfer the local USF campus—its land, buildings and debt—to New College of Florida, starting July 1. In February, the House Higher Education Budget Subcommittee approved the transfer, but the Senate did not include it in its bill. Now the two sides hammer it out. If the proposal is approved, USF-SM disappears, and so do all of its workforce programs and undergraduate and graduate degrees.

USF-SM is a 50-year-old institution with 2,000 students and 40 accredited degree programs in nursing, teacher education, risk management and insurance, and cybersecurity and technology. About 95 percent of its graduates stay and work locally in the community. In March, hundreds of supporters gathered to protest the takeover.

Business groups have joined them. The Manatee Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce, the Venice Area Chamber of Commerce and Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance, representing 4,100 businesses and tens of thousands of employees, wrote letters to lawmakers not to shut down the campus and its programs. USF-SM is a “talent pipeline,” chamber presidents wrote, and not enough thought has gone into the impact of closing it nor have legislators asked for input from local business leaders.

“All potential changes to local campus structures should be grounded in a plan that enhances offerings and access,” wrote Justin Phillips, chair of the board of the Manatee Chamber of Commerce. “A reduction in degree programs that feed the workforce needs of Manatee/Sarasota would hurt our economy, businesses, and residents.”

Community leaders in education, healthcare and nonprofits also signed a letter this week pleading with the local delegation, Florida House Speaker Daniel Perez and Senate President Ben Albritton to oppose closing the campus. With no real community input or financial justification, dissolving USF-SM is “unnecessary and unjustified,” they wrote. “USF SM is also the responsible financial choice. A Florida DOGE [Department of Governmental Efficiency] report shows USF spends about $72,000 per degree, while New College spends nearly $500,000 per degree. USF-SM and New College have coexisted for 25 years, each with a distinct mission; sacrificing USF-SM is totally unnecessary.”   

Lisa Carlton, a USF-SM board member and former state senator, who has also signed the letter, says shutting down USF-SM makes no sense.

“What domino effect does it have on all of these stakeholders,” she asks. “Hospitals, doctors, people who are seeking higher education, the current students, the financial commitment that has been made to the campus, money appropriated for buildings, for teachers to build out programs? The impact is tremendous. People may not have the access to higher education that they have now. We’re trying to solve a problem that doesn’t exist. I’m a fulltime rancher now, and we have this saying: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

New College sent out a press release that it would be starting a hospitality program, apparently in an effort to calm concerns in the local hospitality sector. But Carlton says educational institutions can’t snap their fingers to create degrees and certifications. “They take years,” she says. “And, by the way, that insinuates that they’ll get that accreditation. That’s a whole other issue.”

Both USF-SM and New College can exist side by side, she says. Without the facts and no study on the economic impact, she is asking legislators to put on the brakes. “Let’s see how New College develops.”

New College is a pet project of Gov. Ron DeSantis, and New College of Florida president Richard Corcoran is a powerful, well-connected player in Florida politics. He has stated that the takeover of USF “means we get $200 million worth of facilities move-in ready,’” says former Dr. Laurey Stryker, former president of USF-SM. (Higher Ed Heist did a deep dive into the lobbying and the network of interests, including Corcoran’s, related to the closure of USF-SM.)

The waiting game is now over, says Carlton, and the best chance supporters have of saving USF-SM is to contact their legislators. The local group Save USF Sarasota-Manatee has a list of delegation names, emails and phone numbers on its website. “Better yet,” says Carlton, “I think phone calls are more impactful. Leave a message. It doesn’t hurt to contact the governor’s office. Any contact is better than no contact. This is the window. Once that budget session starts it will be hard."