The Florida Board of Governors (BOG) on Thursday announced that FAMU would receive $13,750,113 in additional state investments from the State University System's $265m performance base funding (PBF) funds. The $13.75m will be added to $15.3m of FAMU's own money (institutional investment) which is withheld annually pending results. In order for a university to have its "institutional investment" returned it must score a minimum of 51 out of a possible 100 points.
This is the first time since 2016 that FAMU has received a share of the "additional state investment" money. This year after pressure from the Legislature, particularly FAMU grad State Rep. Ramon Alexander, the BOG did away with its punitive "bottom three" rule which withheld the additional investment funds from the three lowest scoring universities, regardless of their scores.
UWF excels at performance
Perhaps, the shinning star of this year's PBF announcement is the University of West Florida. Just five years ago, when the model was unveiled UWF came in dead last and had a portion of its budget withheld. This year the school finished second with 94 points, behind University of Florida.
Since 2014, UWF has increased its graduation rate by 45 percent. "Our rise has been rather intentional. I wish I could point to one thing that did all the magic, but it's not one thing. It's really taking a campus culture and refocusing it on those goals the best align with the state," said UWF President Martha Saunders.