… while shutting down USF Sarasota-Manatee to expand the New College campus.
By Nic Steinig
Original Air Date: June 5, 2026
Host: New College is facing what looks like a financial head-on collision: an expanding campus and major cuts to its operating budget. Nic Steinig brings us this story.
Nic Steinig: Last Friday, lawmakers ratified the annual statewide budget after weeks of heated debate. The result for New College of Florida? A slash of about 40% to its state funding, representing a total loss of around $25 million from its annual budget.
This comes as the legislature simultaneously decided to transfer ownership of the USF-Sarasota Manatee campus to New College, mandating that New College assume USF-Sarasota Manatee’s construction debt of about $53 million before the end of this year. However, the diversion of $22.5 million of operating funds from USF-Sarasota Manatee to New College—a provision that existed in the House version of the bill that the Senate had struck down—was notably missing from the final budget.
The result will be New College’s total debt quadrupling from $17 million to $70 million, while its state funding is being reined in by legislators, and no recurring revenue was secured from the USF-Sarasota Manatee transfer deal.
Nathan Allen, a New College alumnus, served as Corcoran’s vice president of strategy and special projects. | Photo courtesy Nathan Allen
This could create a perfect storm for New College’s financial future, one that former New College Vice President Nathan Allen is predicting will lead to the college’s financial collapse within three to five years.
Over the last few years, New College had been seeing record-breaking funding from the legislature after Governor Ron DeSantis initiated a conservative “takeover” of the small liberal arts college, with state dollars sent to the college more than doubling from $27 million to $62 million in just three years.
When the governor’s political overhaul first began in 2023, the college’s makeup was shifted to fit the Governor’s vision; six conservative-leaning members were added to the Board of Trustees, former GOP House Speaker Richard Corcoran was appointed president and the former president dismissed, and the college began dismantling the gender studies program, among other changes.
At that time, New College also received a generous legislative package that awarded it an additional $10 million in recurring annual funds mid-year. This came from the Joint Legislative Budget Commission, a special committee composed of both the Florida Senate and the House that has the authority to approve budget amendments at any time of year, should a proposal be brought to them.
That kicked off a streak of generous annual investments that the legislature has awarded to the college each year since, with one-time allocations of $15 to $25 million assigned to New College annually in addition to the new recurring $10 million and its base funding. That’s how New College’s state funding ballooned so quickly and doubled to $62 million dollars.
Last year, the additional one-time $25 million allotment was given to New College only after the budget went into a special session and extra dollars were found to redirect to New College. This year, that funding was entirely pulled, leaving it with just its base funding and the extra $10 million in recurring funding from 2023, now totaling $37 million.
Back in February of this year, after New College came under fire from the Florida DOGE for its per-degree cost of nearly $500,000, Governor DeSantis claimed the influx of funding from the legislature was only a temporary investment for capital improvements.
Richard Corcoran with Ron DeSantis at New College’s Sainer Auditorium for a Socratic Stage talk. | Photo: WSLR
Ron DeSantis: People say, “They’re spending so much money per student.” No. That’s because we’re putting in capital improvements. These are not going to be expenses that are fixed going forward.
NS: Directly contradicting this claim, DeSantis’s own budget proposal to legislators this year asked that a recurring $25 million dollars per year be given to New College in perpetuity. WSLR also obtained pictures of a document from a New College delegation that was sent to Tallahassee to lobby Florida lawmakers, and that document also depicted an intent to ask lawmakers for $25 million dollars in perpetuity.
WSLR also obtained pictures of a document from a New College delegation that was sent to Tallahassee to lobby Florida lawmakers, and that document also depicted an intent to ask lawmakers for $25 million in perpetuity.
The trouble New College now faces hinges on its use of temporary one-time funds to accelerate permanent growth. Its administrative department, student services, scholarships, athletics and overall footprint have all been expanded. Those expenses are likely to be recurring, not one-off as previously suggested.
To put it into perspective, since 2022, costs for administration have risen 150%, costs for student services have risen 200%, costs for all salaries and benefits have risen 50% and costs for student scholarships have risen about 600%. The college is also still spending around 6 million dollars a year on temporary housing to accommodate its planned growth in student numbers and to relocate students off campus after several on-campus dorms were closed due to mold intrusion.
All of this money was being pulled from exactly the funding bucket that legislators just slashed—the General and Education fund.
With that source now suddenly cut off, those New College expansions and temporary housing funds could be barreling towards a cliff.
While It’s technically possible that the Joint Legislative Budget Commission could make a last-minute change to bring that money back, the snubbing of DeSantis’s initial ask and DeSantis’s imminent departure from the Governor’s office in January 2027 may foreshadow that the political will to float New College’s finances is waning.
The $53 million in debt that New College is about to assume from USF-Sarasota Manatee could further restrict New College’s financial options. USF-Sarasota Manatee currently pays close to $2 million in annual debt payments tied to its campus. Inheriting that payment schedule may actually seem achievable for New College at a glance, since they already pay around $1.7 million dollars annually to USF-Sarasota Manatee in exchange for 144 temporary beds out of 200 beds total at the Atala Hall dormitory. New College could take control of the entire campus for only $300,000 more a year.
However, the $1.7 million that New College has paid to USF-Sarasota Manatee annually was drawn from non-recurring General and Education packages. New College was permitted to pull from that fund for emergency temporary housing, but the legislature does not allow the use of General and Education dollars for debt servicing or new construction.
Once New College assumes ownership of the USF-Sarasota Manatee campus, it would be difficult to characterize the dorm they now own as temporary. That could leave them reliant solely on internal revenue drawn from housing fees and other on-campus charges to service the debt, a revenue stream which will be further encumbered by the loss of $25 million in General and Education funds.
Importantly, the $53 million of debt was lent to USF-Sarasota Manatee contingent on its triple A bond rating. Former New College Vice President Nathan Allen recently wrote that New College’s pre-existing $17 million debt was already “bad enough to freeze it out of the debt markets.”
Regardless, the state budget explicitly instructs New College to “complete all steps necessary…to assume, legally and financially, the full liability for any outstanding debt…including…any fees and costs associated with transferring, satisfying, retiring, defeasing, or repaying such debt obligations.”
According to Patricia Healy, director of Sarasota-based Cumberland Advisors, if New College has to go to the bond market to assume the debt obligation, the structure would depend on its current complete financial profile, but an insurance company could act as a guarantor.
Patricia Healy: There’s financial advisors and there’s investment banks. So they do this all the time, working in the marketplace, putting a deal together. But the contract is really between the issuer of the bonds going to the bond market. So they would come in and help the school look at the whole transaction—how much revenue, how much expenses, how much debt they need—they’ll look at a huge projection of needs.
NS: Allen wrote that “the instrument will [likely] be a note between New College and USF,” meaning USF will continue to hold the debt and New College will make payments directly to them. Healy agreed that this approach would be the most beneficial given the circumstances.
Ultimately, Allen believes that the college will be shuttered. “USF assumes the property. Tallahassee approves closure. The real estate is auctioned.”
Reporting for WSLR, Nic Steinig.
Host: WSLR reached out to New College repeatedly, seeking comment on their finances. They said they will be releasing a press release on this topic within a week.
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