Fresh Take Florida
The University of Florida (UF) dropped one position to No. 7 among the nation’s public universities — its second consecutive decline — and dropped two spots to No. 30 nationally among private and public schools in the latest U.S News & World Report rankings.
The state’s flagship university was tied at seventh with the University of Texas-Austin among public schools, and tied at 30th with New York University nationally out of 436 schools. UF was ranked as high as No. 5 among all public schools two years ago.
Other Florida universities on the list improved from last year, some remarkably. In Miami, Florida International University surged in the rankings, climbing to No. 46 from No. 64 among public universities, and to 98th from 124th among national schools. FIU said it was the fastest rise by any university in a decade.
“Panthers, we did it!” FIU President Kenneth Jessell wrote in a campus wide email. “FIU is a leading American university performing at the highest level in all higher education key measures.” The school planned to celebrate Monday afternoon with a party near its Green library.
Other Florida schools on the list included:
— Florida State’s ranking among public universities was unchanged at No. 23, and it fell one position to 54 among national schools.
— The University of Miami, a private school, improved to No. 63 from No. 67.
— The University of South Florida in Tampa was unchanged at No. 45 among public schools. It fell to 91st from 89th among national universities.
— The University of Central Florida in Orlando rose to No. 61 from No. 64, and improved to No. 121 from No. 124 nationally.
— Florida A&M University was unchanged at No. 3 among historically Black colleges and universities. It climbed to No. 81 from No. 91 among public schools, and rose to No. 152 from No. 170 among national universities.
The University of Florida did not immediately respond to questions or issue any public statements about this year’s rankings.
The magazine didn’t explain why UF declined slightly again, but one of its biggest scoring factors — valued more than graduation rates, graduate earnings or class sizes — was how a university is viewed among its peers.
UF for years has been the focus of politicized efforts by the GOP-led Legislature and Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis that have drawn scorn from administrators at other universities and colleges. These include dismantling all diversity programs, limiting how professors can teach topics about race, weakening tenure protections for professors and requiring surveys of students and faculty asking about their political views and affiliations.
More recently, UF’s President, Ben Sasse, resigned abruptly July 31 after just 17 months in office, citing his wife’s declining health. The departure by Sasse, the former Republican Senator, ended a short experiment of employing as the head of a major university a figure whose political prowess far exceeded his academic credentials. Sasse’s outsized spending — including millions for consulting contracts, high-end catering and travel costs for highly paid advisers who worked remotely — is the subject of at least one ongoing state audit.
“We are now a laughing stock, facts,” said Stan Kaye, a UF theater professor who retired in May and volunteers with the university’s faculty union. “Forget about the metrics. That’s how we’re viewed. It’s a problem.”
UF’s peer assessment score this year fell from 3.8 to 3.7 out of 5 — the lowest among all Top 10 public universities on the magazine’s rankings.
Connor Effrain, 20, of Morganville, New Jersey, and President of the college Democrats group on UF’s campus, said the school’s ranking and reputation were damaged by what he called political interference from right-wing ideologues and the Legislature.
“The entire country is laughing at us,” said Effrain, a junior studying history.
At the same time, DeSantis and the Legislature have poured money into the university through appropriations that have allowed UF to hire more professors, reduce class sizes, raise faculty salaries and increase financial resources for students — all factors in the magazine’s scoring.
Tuition — already low at $6,381 for in-state students — hasn’t increased since DeSantis took office in 2018. That affects student loan debt, another factor in the magazine’s scoring regimen. It said the median student loan debt among UF graduates is $15,000.
The U.S. News rankings for 2025 — released late Monday night — are significant because they are so well established. Tens of millions of prospective students and their families use them to pick where they want to attend college.
UF touted its ranking by the Wall Street Journal last year as the No. 1 public university, but the school dropped this year in the Journal’s rankings to No. 34, after the newspaper changed its methodology. UF fell in those rankings due to how the Journal estimated a Gator’s salary upon graduation.
When he was still President, Sasse said he wanted to deemphasize rankings because each ranking organization’s methodology can change suddenly, affecting a school’s arbitrary score.
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This story was produced by Fresh Take Florida, a news service of the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications. The reporter can be reached at [email protected]. You can donate to support our students here.
