Tucked inside Florida’s $114.5 billion budget is a modest but consequential tweak to state education law — one that critics say hands Tallahassee officials unprecedented influence over what courses count toward a college degree.
The change, approved by Florida lawmakers and signed into the budget alongside a cascade of other higher education provisions, grants the State Board of Education and the State University System Board of Governors new authority to not just approve or reject general education course lists, but to actively amend them. Previously, those bodies could only say yes or no to course lists compiled by public colleges and universities. Now, they can rewrite them.
The measure passed with relatively little resistance — 76-28 in the House and 32-2 in the Senate — but not without pushback. Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando, was among those voting against it, calling the change “completely inappropriate.”
Supporters of the change framed it as a routine administrative fix. Rep. Demi Busatta, R-Coral Gables, who served as the House budget chief for higher education, said after a May 14 budget conference meeting that the new language was designed to give the system “flexibility” to operate without “unnecessary barriers.” State University System Chancellor Ray Rodrigues went further, claiming the amendment was simply correcting an oversight from 2023’s SB 266, which directed the Board of Governors to review academic programs for mission alignment but apparently fell short of granting full amendment authority.
The timing, however, has drawn skepticism. The budget language emerged just weeks after state education leaders moved to remove introductory sociology courses from general education requirements — a decision that reignited the long-running conflict between the DeSantis administration and academic disciplines that examine race, gender, and social inequality. Lawmakers denied any connection between the two developments, but the proximity was hard for opponents to ignore.
The episode fits a broader pattern. Since 2021, Gov. Ron DeSantis has made reshaping Florida’s university system a signature cause, casting out what he calls “woke” ideology and reorienting how schools address race and social inequality. Each legislative session has brought new tools to advance that agenda. This one, critics argue, handed officials the sharpest tool yet.
