Staff Reports
Last Call — A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics.
First Shot
Picking up where we left off this morning, here’s a deeper dive into the scores of Florida schools in the national rankings of colleges and universities.
The University of South Florida and Florida International University are standing out as rising stars on the U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges rankings.
Florida A&M University ranked as the nation’s best public HBCU for a fourth straight year. It also repeated at No. 7 on the list of public and private Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Overall, U.S. News ranked the Rattlers No. 202.
“FAMU continues to carve a path forward in educating and training our graduates to have an impact in the communities where they live, work and serve,” FAMU President Larry Robinson said in a news release. “These rankings are no reason for complacency. They will encourage and inspire us to even greater achievements. We have more work to do.”
Florida Atlantic University tied with the University of North Florida and others for No. 132 among public universities and No. 263 overall.
Florida Polytechnic University was ranked No. 1 among public regional colleges in the South and third among southern regional colleges overall.
Florida Poly is also ranked as the best college in the region for veterans and second among schools in the region for students graduating with the least student debt. Additionally, the school was recognized as one of the top 30 best-value schools in the region, factoring academic quality and cost after total expenses and financial aid.
“We are proud U.S. News is once again recognizing Florida Poly as an excellent provider of core STEM education at a great value,” Florida Poly President Randy Avent said in a news release. “Our leading-edge curriculum and deliberately small classes are a proven combination to support student success. The outstanding achievements of our students and alumni in industry and beyond are solid proof.”
The University of West Florida hit No. 26 in southern regional schools.
New College of Florida was ranked the 76th-best National Liberal Arts College.
Unfortunately for Florida Gulf Coast University, U.S. News grouped GCU in the also-ran category.
Some private schools also received distinctions. Keiser University was named the nation’s top school in providing social mobility to students. The University of Miami also held its spot as tied for No. 55 on the national list.
Evening Reads
—“Ron DeSantis plays greatest hits — and then some — in keynote speech to enthusiastic NatCon crowd” via Jesse Scheckner of Florida Politics
—“DeSantis’ ‘full armor of God’ rhetoric reaches Republicans. But is he playing with fire?” via Ana Ceballos of the Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times
—“Charlie Crist agrees to three debates, confirms at least one matchup against DeSantis” via Renzo Downey of Florida Politics
—“DeSantis hands out $1K bonuses to first responders” via Gray Rohrer of Florida Politics
—“Yes, the polling warning signs are flashing again” via Nate Cohn of The New York Times
—“Rick Scott’s epic fail at GOP campaign job: squandered millions, crap candidates” via Diane Roberts of the Florida Phoenix
—“Why Republicans keep failing to pass abortion bans” via Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux of FiveThirtyEight
—“UF is Florida’s top-ranked school, while universities in South Florida celebrate gains” via Lisa J. Huriash of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel
—“Students at UF secretly recorded nude in dorm bathrooms, showers angry over sentence for man linked to cases at four universities” via Elliot Tritto of Fresh Take Florida
—“Shevrin Jones tapped to serve on DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee” via Anne Geggis of Florida Politics
—“Good buy, Type O’s: iMessages can finally be edited and deleted” via Geoffrey A. Fowler of The Washington Post
—“Stephen Curry is putting it all on the line” via Matt Sullivan of Rolling Stone
Quote of the Day
“If you look at the folks who were in 9/11 or in the various agencies in New York City, the people that have left the Tri-State Area on retirement overwhelmingly choose to come to Florida.”
— Ron DeSantis on remembering victims of the Sept. 11 attack and the strength of the Florida first responder community.
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