Twice as many students drop out of Florida college after DeSantis takeover

About twice as many students have dropped out of a Florida college this year after Gov. Ron DeSantis installed a new president and board of trustees.

As the 2023-4 school year started up, Interim Provost Brad Thiessen at the New College in Florida said that 27% of the student body had decided not to return—or about 186 students, according to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. In the last two years, the student body had only gone down by about 90 students per year. A third of faculty members also left following the DeSantis takeover. In addition, the board of trustees denied tenure to five professors who had already been approved to receive it.

The New College of Florida had a reputation of being a small progressive state school, but that changed in February. That month, DeSantis appointed six members to the Florida college’s board of trustees—including Christopher Rufo, a right-wing activist known for fighting against “critical race theory”—and installed a new interim president, Richard Corcoran.

Corcoran was previously DeSantis’ education commissioner. He received $700,000 for the position—twice what the previous president had made, according to the Tampa Bay Times. Earlier this week, the trustees made Corcoran’s position permanent, and his compensation could increase, the Times reported.

While more students are leaving, additional students are coming in to replace them. Enrollment at the Florida college has increased by 41 students over last year. The school also had a record amount of incoming students, with 137 more freshmen choosing to attend New College than last year. Corcoran made it his goal to increase enrollment, focusing on recruiting student athletes. The school only created its athletic department this spring.

Before the takeover, the Florida college had ranked at No. 76 on U.S. News and World Report’s ranking of national liberal arts colleges and No. 5 on its list of public liberal arts colleges. This year, New College dropped to No. 100 on the national list and to No. 6 on the public liberal arts list. Other Florida colleges also dropped in the rankings, though New College fell the furthest.