The Education State: How Ron DeSantis Remade Florida’s Universities in His Image

Ron DeSantis’s tenure as governor has been marked by a relentless assault on higher education in Florida, and his departure from office will not bring an end to this ideological makeover of the state’s universities. In fact, it may be just the beginning.

The appointment of Alex Kelly, DeSantis’s former deputy chief of staff and commerce secretary, as the sole finalist for president at Pensacola State College is a stark reminder that the governor’s loyalists will continue to hold sway over these institutions long after he has left office. This systemic shift in governance is not limited to individual appointees; it reflects a broader transformation of how Florida’s universities are governed.

DeSantis’s approach to higher education has been characterized by the placement of conservative Republican acolytes in key leadership roles, often with no prior experience in higher ed administration. Jeanette Nunez, the governor’s former lieutenant governor, was installed at Florida International University despite protests from students, faculty, and alumni; Marva Johnson, a lobbyist and businesswoman, became president of Florida A&M University over fierce objection from all quarters.

William Johnson, the Florida director of PEN America, notes that DeSantis’s administration has “made public education an apparatus of the state.” This represents a significant shift in how higher ed is run. Unlike previous administrations, DeSantis’s appointees have no experience in higher ed, but are instead tasked with enforcing the administration’s ideological mandates.

As Johnson explains, “One of the key differences between DeSantis and everyone else is that these appointments have no experience in higher ed… so we can infer their main skill set is simply to follow the administration’s ideological mandates.” This raises questions about academic freedom: does this mean that DeSantis’s appointees are more interested in imposing ideology than fostering a culture of learning and intellectual inquiry?

Amanda Phalin, an associate professor at the University of Florida, has firsthand experience with the state’s approach to university hires. She was a faculty representative on the state board from 2023 to 2025 and witnessed the rejection of Santa Ono as president by the board of governors.

Phalin is scathing in her assessment of DeSantis’s legacy: “What I saw during the whole Santa Ono debacle is that these people do not actually have the best interest of the state university system at heart. For them, the project is either ideological or about personal power, or both.” She notes that DeSantis has never made a secret of his desire to impose his Florida “blueprint” nationally and that his legacy could ultimately become other red states following his lead in injecting more politics and dollars into higher education.

The way Florida’s universities are structured means that each university has a board of trustees controlled by the governor, who also controls the board of governors. This structural maneuver has effectively politicized the entire system, top to bottom. As Phalin notes, “What DeSantis has really done is… politicize the entire system, in terms of its governance structure.”

The implications of this are far-reaching: will other states follow Florida’s lead in injecting more politics and dollars into higher education? How will universities adapt to a changing landscape where ideology takes precedence over academic freedom and intellectual inquiry? And what does this mean for the future of public education in America?

One thing is clear: DeSantis’s departure from office will not bring an end to his legacy. His loyalists will continue to shape the course of higher education in Florida, and potentially beyond.