State University System unveils SUS 30 strategic plan and $634.5 million legislative request

The State University System of Florida presented a new 10-year strategic plan, SUS 30, and a legislative budget request totaling $634,500,000 to the Senate Appropriations Committee on Higher Education on an occasion convened by Chair Harrell.

Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs Emily Sykes told senators the SUS 30 plan sets five priorities — a unified “1 SUS” approach to systemwide collaboration, elevating student success, operational excellence, world-class talent, and innovative research and economic development — with a stated 2030 goal that “The State University System of Florida will be the premier public university system in the nation.” She emphasized the legislature’s role in the system’s recent gains, saying, “When people from universities outside of Florida asked me how we're doing so well, part of our answer is that we're doing so well because we have a commitment and investment from our legislature and our partners in the legislature.”

Why it matters: Board staff framed SUS 30 as a road map for maintaining and expanding Florida’s national standing while aligning degree production to workforce demand. The plan ties accountability metrics into university accountability plans and the performance-based funding model that has guided state higher-education allocations for more than a decade.

Key metrics and progress: Staff reported the system’s four-year graduation rate has climbed to nearly 64 percent (the board’s 2030 goal is 70 percent). The four‑year graduation rate for Pell recipients is about 60 percent. Median wages for bachelor’s degree recipients one year after graduation exceed $50,000, and the system reported gains in licensure pass rates — five universities recorded 100 percent pass rates on certain licensure exams this past year. Sykes said the system will track these and other indicators through university accountability plans that the board reviews each June.

Campus safety and collaboration: As an early implementation item under “1 SUS,” Sykes described a recent summit on campus safety that included the State University System and the Florida College System. She said participants exchanged best practices on building security, threat assessment and cross-agency communication; the board will receive a report with recommendations in November.

Workforce alignment and programs of strategic emphasis: Sykes described a methodology linking academic programs to occupational demand and wage thresholds to form a list of “programs of strategic emphasis.” The list is statutorily reviewed every three years; staff will provide the specific program list to the committee on request. She acknowledged that some essential occupations (for example, K–12 teachers or some mental‑health roles) may not meet wage thresholds but remain priorities for the state.

Career outcomes data: Staff highlighted MyFloridaFuture, a careers-and-wages tool launched in 2022 that shows employment and wage data for degree programs at one, five and ten years after graduation. Emily Sykes described the site as a resource for students and parents and said it includes aggregate wages for degree cohorts but does not currently allow drilling down by transfer status.

Nursing pipeline and Line Funding Program: Staff reported the legislature authorized $6,000,000 in line funding in July for nursing program partnerships with local health-care providers. Vice Chancellor Sykes said all 10 nursing programs in the system submitted proposals and the board reviewed 24 proposals that together exceeded the appropriation; awards were prorated and the board approved allocations on Sept. 11. System staff reported outcomes they attribute to the line funding: more than 1,900 new nursing graduates since the program began, creation of 200 new student slots, and more than 300 scholarships; the systemwide NCLEX pass rate was reported at 92 percent. Sykes said staff are considering statutory changes this year to expand eligibility and flexibility for the line funding program.

Legislative budget request: Vice Chancellor of Finance and Administration Sarah Denaggi presented the system’s legislative budget request approved by the Board of Governors. She summarized five requests totaling $634.5 million, led by restoration and augmentation of the performance-based funding (PBF) program.

• Performance-based funding: Denaggi said the board seeks continued institutional investment funding at $295,000,000 and a restoration plus increase for the state investment bucket from $350,000,000 (recently funded with nonrecurring general revenue) to $400,000,000.

• Preeminence funding: The board requested $125,000,000 to support the preeminence program, which statute limits to universities that meet prescribed benchmarks; four universities were listed as current preeminent institutions.

• Recruitment and retention: The board requested $100,000,000 for a performance-based recruitment and retention initiative to retain and recruit faculty and researchers, allocated by performance funding scores and faculty counts in programs of strategic emphasis.

• UF/IFAS extension workload: The board requested $6,400,000 to support increased research and extension workload tied to the University of Florida’s IFAS extension activities.

• Fire marshal inspections: The board requested $3,100,000 to fund state fire marshal inspections of state‑owned buildings across the university system.

Denaggi reiterated that PBF has been a central mechanism for improving outcomes across the 12 universities and that universities report annually on how PBF allocations are spent — on student success initiatives, faculty investment and infrastructure among other categories.

Questions and committee response: Committee members asked about the programs of strategic emphasis, how the MyFloridaFuture data are used by counselors and transfer students, and longer-term wage trajectories for graduates. Sykes said MyFloridaFuture provides one-, five- and ten‑year wage data and that the system is building longer-term cohorts as datasets deepen. On student equity, Sykes said the board measures and includes Pell student metrics in the performance model and has raised goals for Pell student four‑year graduation rates to align with systemwide targets. Denaggi cautioned the committee that state revenues are limited and that allocations will be considered carefully during the coming budget process.

What happens next: Board staff said they will provide the committee with the programs of strategic emphasis list on request, report back to the Board of Governors in November on campus safety recommendations from the summit, and continue to integrate SUS 30 metrics into university accountability plans for board review next June. The Appropriations Committee indicated it will scrutinize the request during the budget process.

Sources and attributions in this report are limited to statements recorded in the committee transcript and presentations by Emily Sykes (vice chancellor for academic and student affairs) and Sarah Denaggi (vice chancellor of finance and administration). Direct quotations are from those speakers as recorded in the committee record.