A plan to merge New College of Florida won’t move forward this year. But Senate President Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, said the school must address its enrollment and expenses immediately or its independence will remain at risk.

“The questions the Florida Legislature must ask about New College, along with every other institution within Florida’s No. 1 ranked higher-education system, are: does the exorbitant per-student cost of this particular student experience produce a return on investment for Florida taxpayers who support it, and does that return on investment require an administratively independent New College?,” Galvano said.

State Rep. Randy Fine, R-Palm Bay, introduced legislation halfway through the legislative session to fold New College into Florida State University, later amending the bill to have University of Florida take over instead. New College has been independent since 2001 when the Legislature broke it off from the University of South Florida.

Representatives from both parties representing the Sarasota-Manatee area consistently opposed the plan, and no Senate proposal ever emerged. Galvano said he would entertain discussions, but Sen. Joe Gruters, R-Sarasota, said the Senate Preisdnet ultimately blocked any plan.

But Gruters said the merger talks should be seen as a “wake-up call” to New College, which has the highest cost per degree to the state of any public university.

State Rep. Margaret Good, D-Sarasota, had proposed the state embark on a study of cost savings before considering any merger, something she outwardly noted was an effort to slow the hasty plan down and give a chance for New College to prove the need for independence.

Galvano, for his part, said he still sees value in New College as an “important and unique component of Florida’s State University System.” But he also noted that for most of his Senate tenure, he fought to backfill funding for the school. Most recently, he secured more than $10 million for the school to aid in boosting enrollment from the mid-800s two years ago to 1,200 by the 2023 school year. Enrollment has since gone down.

Galvano stressed he won’t be around next Session to protect the school.

“While I believe New College adds value to our community, my time in the Legislature is coming to an end, and I do not want the college to be in a situation where it has not adequately addressed some of the systemic problems with its financial situation,” Galvano said, “and there is not someone from the Sarasota area in a position like mine to backfill such a huge percentage of its budget.”