Dive Brief:

• Administrators at Florida's public universities are working to figure out how to best spend the combined $200 million their schools will receive as a result of the state’s new performance funding system.  
• Under the system, state schools are rewarded for excellence or improvement in areas like graduation rates and financial efficiency.
• The University of Florida would receive the largest amount — $39.8 million — for the 2014-15 school year from the performance incentive plan, which is to be voted on Thursday by the university system’s Board of Governors, the Orlando Sentinel reported. The University of Central Florida would receive $30.8 million.

Dive Insight:

Florida Atlantic University, University of West Florida, and New College all missed out on the funding because they didn't have a high enough rating, based on their 2012-13 performance, to qualify for the money. They could lose a combined $11.9 million if their performance doesn’t improve by the end of the 2014-15 school year. The performance metrics have spotlighted problems, such as the fact that 40% of the students who start at Florida Atlantic as freshmen graduate within six years, which is less than half the percentage at the University of Florida. Administrators at the University of Central Florida plan to combine the performance funding with other money to hire 100 new faculty members, and Florida State University and Florida International University are also considering using the money to add faculty.