As part of a years-long, conservative push for state control over public universities, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Thursday that the State University System of Florida is joining four other states — Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas — to launch a new accrediting body called the Commission for Public Higher Education.
"It'll upend the monopoly of the woke accreditation cartels,” DeSantis said during a press conference at the Florida Atlantic University campus in Boca Raton.
“And it will provide institutions with an alternative that focuses on student achievement, rather than the ideological fads that have so permeated those accrediting bodies over the year."
This new push by the state is seen as an ongoing challenge to the traditional, independent accreditation system that has long overseen Florida’s public universities.
Critics argue that conservative efforts to change the system altogether threaten academic freedom and institutional autonomy, warning that politicizing accreditation could risk students freedom of speech, reduce public oversight, and increase government surveillance.
DeSantis and his supporters argue the current accreditation system incentivizes ideological conformity, such as “woke policies” like diversity, equity, and inclusion, over academic rigor and “measurable outcomes.”
He said the new “rigorous, transparent” accreditation model changes the accreditation standards and practices.
“ We care about efficiency. We care about pursuing truth. We care about preparing our students to be citizens of our republic,” he said.
“ All those things have played second fiddle if they were even given any credence at all under these more prevailing accreditation model.
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DeSantis and supporters are coordinating with the Trump administration to secure the required approval of the federal government and to shield it from future reversals.
DeSantis was joined Thursday in Boca Raton by several key figures and supporters in higher education, which include Ray Rodrigues, Chancellor of the State University System of Florida; Adam Haner, President of Florida Atlantic University; Thad Westbrook, Chairman of the University of South Carolina Board of Trustees; and Dr. Shonda Gibson, Associate Vice Chancellor of the Texas A&M University System.
Rodrigues cited a Gallup poll that revealed only 36% of Americans have confidence in public higher education, emphasizing reasons behind the decline in confidence, such as a focus on political agendas over education, degrees seen as irrelevant to job prospects, and rising costs and student debt.
Rodrigues said the current accreditation system in the region is “flawed.”
"In our current accreditor SACSCOC, [Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges] there are nearly 50 four-year non-profit colleges and universities that have a four year graduation rate of 20% or less — and yet they're still accredited,” Rodrigues said.
He claims the new Commission for Public Higher Education will “offer an accreditation model that prioritizes academic excellence and student success while removing ideological bias and unnecessary financial burdens.”
