GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis held a news conference Monday morning to tout the state’s university system while emphasizing the importance of making it affordable for students to pursue higher education.
During a news conference at the University of Florida in Gainesville, DeSantis celebrated Florida’s 10-year streak as the nation’s top-ranked state for public higher education, according to U.S. News and World Report.
“University of Florida has been our top-ranked public university for many, many years. It’s one of the top, usually ranked 25/30 of universities, including the private universities. And I think that’s only going to get better,” DeSantis said.
The governor also used Monday’s press conference to propose using state money, specifically “the maxed-out rainy day fund” to recruit top-tier professors from around the world to Florida.
DeSantis said the public ranking for higher education in Florida is significant because he says there were no tuition increases for in-state students, emphasizing that 77% of undergrads in Florida are loan-free.
During the news conference, DeSantis also introduced UF’s new interim president, Don Landry, who has been serving in his new position since Sept. 1.
“This is hard work. It’s actually hard work at every level in the continuum, from one to 100. Enormous amounts of work have to be deployed. Inspiration, effort, all of that invested and the objective is not numerology. It’s rather that we want to make the lives better of the people in the state and to set an example for the country, and we’re trying to do that at our university,” Landry said.
DeSantis also introduced FAMU’s new president, Marva Johnson.
While answering questions from the media, DeSantis also talked about the state’s ongoing “DOGE” efforts, which aim to review government agencies’ efficiency and cut wasteful spending.
The governor also reiterated the state’s commitment to conduct these audits, including universities.
“We’re trying to use things like artificial intelligence to add to our review, because we review all this stuff anyways. But we’re trying, we’re adding. So we’re going to talk more about some of those findings as well. So it’s not just local governments,” DeSantis said.