Florida public universities will no longer admit undocumented students.The Florida Board of Governors passed the measure at its meeting Thursday at Florida Gulf Coast University.
By unanimous vote and with no discussion, the board of governors approved an amendment to its admissions rule. Doors are shut to students without lawful status as of the 2027-2028 academic year. Among eight speakers giving comment before the vote was FGCU graduate student Connor Plonka.
"Anyone with a moral conscience should have come out to speak out in opposition to the recent amendment," he said. "We're cutting off students who would want to help improve our communities, our neighborhoods, our state, as well as help their own families, as well as help themselves in gaining more knowledge and gaining more wisdom and gaining more life experience.
"Why should we then cut them off from possibilities here in Florida? It's ridiculous."
FGCU student Kaili Taylor also spoke out against the amendment.
"I just feel right now that undocumented students are being criticized and targeted for absolutely zero reason. They are students just like me, just like my peers, and they deserve to have the same educational opportunities as I do."
The fact that there was a vote with no discussion rankled her.
"They were able to not think about the things that we said during public comment, [or] even think about the individual students this was going to impact."
Maria Lara from Port Charlotte is a state officer in the League of Latin American Citizens, She delivered a letter to the board members in opposition to the amendment and spoke as the parent of Florida state university graduates. She is also a graduate of a Florida state university.
"It made me really sad because I feel that education is so important for, particularly I know the Latino community, and this is a real dent on their dreams and their aspirations.
We're going to lose a lot of talent in Florida and a lot of money in Florida.
"It's a bad look for Florida and it's also bad for business and our economy because they will be going elsewhere and those economies will do well."
The 17-member Board of Governors includes 14 members appointed by the governor (and confirmed by the state Senate), plus the chair of the Advisory Council of Faculty Senates, the Commissioner of Education, and the chair of the Florida Student Association.
The move by the Board of Governors follows a similar measure passed by the state Board of Education in late June that bars undocumented potential students from enrolling in state colleges or adult education programs.
Florida thus joins three other states that have limited access to post-secondary education: Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina.
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