UCF misses out on millions in state ‘preeminent' university funding

After chasing top status for years, the University of Central Florida will now miss out on the tens of millions of dollars in additional funding it expected for its recent designation as one of the state's best universities.

In September, UCF announced that it had achieved "preeminent" status - a state designation for Florida universities that achieve certain high standards including graduation rates, national rankings and research dollars earned. Being a preeminent state university has, in the past, come with substantial additional money from the Florida Legislature, which UCF leaders said they planned to use for faculty raises.

Last year, the University of Florida, Florida State University, the University of South Florida and Florida International University split a pot of $40 million for preeminent funding. The year before that, the schools split $100 million.

But this year, lawmakers slashed all funding to the program. Florida's Senate asked for $100 million for preeminent universities this year, but the Florida House balked.

UCF did not respond to requests for comment on the lost funding.

State Rep. Anna Eskamani (D-Orlando), a UCF alumna, said the cuts were “incredibly disappointing” considering how hard UCF’s faculty worked to earn the school its new status.

She said the cuts came at the direction of Florida House Speaker Daniel Perez, and that it boiled down to “preference versus merit” for lawmakers.

“This is a body that continuously says they care about merit. Everything should be merit-based. The preeminence program is probably the most clear example of meritocracy, and you’re not even following it,” Eskamani said.

Perez’s office did not respond to an inquiry from the Orlando Sentinel.

University funding in Florida’s budget heavily favors UF and FSU, which mirrors the two schools’ dominance in the Florida Legislature. Eskamani argued the two universities have an “outsized influence” in Tallahassee, given many lawmakers are alumni. Perez attended FSU.

Despite UCF having the largest enrollment of any Florida university at about 70,000, it sees about half as much total funding as UF and FSU, according to an analysis of Florida’s proposed budget.

UCF still could see additional state funding from being a preeminent university in the future, depending on how the next Florida House Speaker feels about the program, Eskamani said.

Robert Cassanello, the president of the United Faculty of Florida and a UCF history professor, said that he wasn’t surprised at the Legislature’s decision to eliminate the funds.

“UCF should have expected this since lawmakers were saying this was a tight budget year. Their priorities in Tallahassee are not supportive of our college and university systems,” he wrote in a text message.

He said the cuts, combined with the state’s attacks on higher education autonomy, faculty and academic freedom, show that lawmakers are “not interested in making our public colleges and universities premier in any way.”

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This story was originally published May 27, 2026 at 3:45 PM.