The Florida Board of Governors is a 17-member governing board that serves as the governing body for the State University System of Florida, which includes all public universities in the state of Florida. After its predecessor, the Florida Board of Regents, was abolished by an act of the Florida Legislature that was signed into law by Governor Jeb Bush in July 2001, United States senator Bob Graham, who objected to the abolition of the statewide higher education body (Board of Regents), responded by leading a ballot initiative to restore it. The Board of Governors was established in 2003 after the successful passage of the constitutional amendment heralded by Graham in 2002. The Florida Board of Education, also appointed by the governor, oversees kindergarten through higher education, but focused mostly on K-20 education and community colleges. The Board of Governors, as part of the Florida Constitution, cannot be abolished without another constitutional amendment. During the 2022-2023 academic year, the State University System enrolled 349,921 total students and is the second largest State University System in the United States.

Board composition

The Florida Board of Governors has seventeen members, including fourteen voting members appointed by the governor, as well as the Florida commissioner of education, the chair of the Advisory Council of Faculty Senates, and the chair of the Florida Student Association. The board appoints a chancellor, who serves as the system's chief executive.

University campuses

Think Florida

In January 2016, the State University System launched a statewide communications and marketing campaign to build and bolster the state's entrepreneurial climate - Think Florida: A Higher Degree for Business. The campaign's focus is a strong connection between the system's universities and Florida's businesses, with an emphasis on collaboration in the areas of talent, research and partnerships.

Performance-based funding

The Board of Governors unveiled a performance-based funding model in 2014 to incentivize universities to improve on key metrics, from graduation rates to post-graduation success. The model has four guiding principles: Key components of the model:

Preeminent State Research Universities

In 2010, the Florida Legislature created the Preeminent State Research University program and set 12 benchmarks to define these schools, which are awarded more state funding for research. 11 of the 12 benchmarks must be met for a school to be classified as Preeminent by the Board of Governors. The benchmarks are: Currently, three universities are classified as preeminent: the University of Florida, Florida State University, and the University of South Florida. All three have exceeded each of the 12 benchmarks.

Former members