Student losses take most of FAMU's $11.5M performance funds, FSU's $35M being invested

Not having to scramble to find money for a multi-million dollar enrollment nosedive really makes a difference.

Yesterday, the Florida Board of Governors (BOG) announced performance funding amounts for the State University System of Florida.

Florida State University received $35,574,608 in performance funds. According to the Tallahassee Democrat, “FSU said the money will be used to hire top professors in the STEM fields, along with student support services. It also will be invested in the university’s Center for Academic Retention and Enhancement program, which supports first-generation college students.”

“This performance funding will allow us to make very focused investments and help support the university’s preeminence in ways that will benefit our students and the state as we prepare career-ready graduates,” FSU President John Thrasher said in a quote published in the Democrat.

Florida A&M University received $11,509,132 in performance funds. It won’t be able to use most of that money for new investments because it has to cover enrollment loses of about $10 million. The university expects to lose 920 students in 2016-2017.

“$10M of the $11M [in performance funding] was applied to what we called an enrollment gap,” BOT Chairman Kelvin Lawson said of the 2016-2017 budget at a committee meeting on June 9th.

FAMU will be able to keep its $14,066,717 “institutional investment’ money because it met minimum performance standards. But that money won’t provide any extra help for covering the enrollment gap because it was already included in the 2016-2017 FAMU budget before enrollment loses were factored in.