Higher Education

Florida SouthWestern State College has been granted initial accreditation by the Higher Learning Commission, effective Thursday, Nov. 6.

To celebrate National First Generation College Celebration Day, Florida Gulf Coast University is hosting a celebration for first-generation students, staff and faculty.

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday directed the state university system to end using what are known as H-1B visas to hire employees from other countries.During an appearance at the University of South Florida in Tampa, DeSantis questioned why state universities had staff members on H-1B visas such as a public-policy professor from China, a psychologist and counselor from the United Kingdom, an athletics operations and communications coordinator from Trinidad and Tobago and an assistant swim coach from Spain.

Florida Gulf Coast University hosted an informational meeting recently to update multiple construction projects on the Lee County campus.

Among more than 1,700 institutions rated in the annual U.S. News & World Report's Best Colleges list, Florida Gulf Coast University ranks 318th overall among national universities.

WGCU reporter and host Sandra Viktorova’s documentary “Dream School: A Journey to Higher Ed” has won a National Edward R. Murrow Award from the Radio Television Digital News Association.“Dream School” explores the struggles that students face as they apply to the most prestigious colleges in the nation. It premiered on Jan. 26, 2024 on WGCU TV and subsequently ran on more than half of the PBS stations in the country. It’s available to stream on pbs.org and WGCU’s YouTube channel.

Florida Southwestern State College will launch the region's first teacher apprenticeship program this fall semester. The program allows local paraprofessionals to gain paid, hands-on experience in a classroom over a two-year period.

In Florida, and across America, higher education is facing unprecedented attacks — affecting what subjects can be taught, how university presidents can be ousted, whether various institutions will lose federal funding and if diversity and inclusion offices are even allowed to exist.It’s not just a battle. It’s an all-out war against the traditional norms of academia.President Donald Trump’s crusade against Harvard University and other colleges began in January 2025, but in Florida, where Republicans have long had a monopoly on power in a staunchly red state, that same war has already been underway for several years.

Santa Ono, who has led the University of Michigan since 2022, is the sole finalist to become president of the University of Florida, UF announced Sunday.A presidential-search committee recommended that the UF Board of Trustees approve Ono after a search that began last year following the abrupt resignation of former President Ben Sasse. Kent Fuchs, a former UF president, has served as interim president.