Gabrielle Russon
The House and Senate are at odds over $10.8 million in funding for Florida Polytechnic University.
That’s one of the biggest divides arising from the higher education budget conference for program operations across public universities, where the two sides are apart by more than $27 million. The House is calling to spend about $40 million overall, while the Senate’s latest offer falls just under $13 million.
The House proposes spending the $10.8 million to help the Lakeland university expand and double its enrollment to 3,000 students by 2030. The Senate disagreed, offering $0 in the budget conference spreadsheet.
For its 2025-26 funding request, the school initially asked for $21.5 million in reoccurring dollars.
Florida Polytechnic said it needed to hire 70 engineering and applied sciences faculty members — at $7.7 million total annually — as the student body grew. Other plans included hiring other faculty and staff, making investments for student scholarships and other areas.
The school’s plan included spending the money to advertise and hiring more admissions counselors, recruiters, digital media strategists, web developers and other positions.
The school also said it wanted to spend $600,000 on event sponsorships, $495,000 a year on print ads, $450,000 on school signs and campus décor, $220,000 on billboards and $160,000 on commercials, among other items, according to a school plan before the Trustees last year.
The House also wants to spend $950,000 on Florida State University’s Election Law Center while the Senate proposes $0 in its latest offer.
“The FSU College of Law Election Law Center provides objective, evidence-based analysis of constitutional, statutory, and regulatory issues in election law, working with election administrators, legislators, and policymakers at all levels to improve election laws, regulations, and procedures,” the Election Law Center said on its website.
Meanwhile, several centers focused on health-related areas at Florida’s public universities are also dividing the House and Senate in budget conference.
For instance, the House aims to put $5 million toward University of Florida’s Diabetes STEPS program, though the Senate sought $0.
For FSU’s new Institute for Pediatric Rare Disease, the House proposes $2.5 million while the Senate falls at $500,000. The House also wants to spend about $1.1 million to establish University of Florida’s Center of Excellence for Advanced Catheter Technology versus the Senate’s $0.
