Florida's DOGE Demands Every University Syllabus as DeSantis Targets 'Ideological' Courses

Florida's Department of Governmental Efficiency has ordered the state's 12 public universities to hand over detailed data on every undergraduate course offered—including all syllabi, faculty names, and performance metrics—in what critics are calling an unprecedented government intrusion into academic content and curriculum decisions.

The DeSantis administration sent its request Monday to the Board of Governors, which oversees Florida's public universities, demanding the massive trove of data by December 3. The compressed timeline has sparked concerns among faculty and administrators who must compile information on potentially thousands of courses spanning disciplines from accounting to zoology.

"As we continue our work to identify opportunities to improve higher education in Florida, we are seeking additional information regarding the rigor and performance of programs, majors, and departments within each university," the letter reads, framing the request as part of Governor Ron DeSantis' broader campaign to eliminate what he characterizes as "waste and woke ideology" from state institutions.

The Scope: A 5,000-Page Challenge

The magnitude of the data request is staggering. The University of Central Florida's course catalog alone spans nearly 5,000 pages. Multiply that across 12 universities enrolling tens of thousands of students, and the documentation requirements become monumental.

The DOGE letter seeks detailed information including:

• Names of each academic department and major offered
• Which majors each course accrues credit toward
• Whether courses are taught in person, online, or hybrid
• How many students are applying and enrolling in honors programs
• The syllabi for all courses
• Names of faculty members instructing each course for the next two academic years

A course syllabus typically outlines material covered throughout the semester, required books and readings, grading expectations, attendance policies, and assignment schedules—in essence, a complete blueprint of what students will learn and how they'll be evaluated.

The request represents the latest escalation in DeSantis' aggressive oversight of Florida's higher education system, modeled explicitly on the federal Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) launched by Elon Musk after President Donald Trump returned to office.

"This is the DOGE-ing of Our State University System"

DeSantis announced the Florida DOGE initiative in February, declaring that universities and colleges would "be subjected to an independent review and audit to study efficiency and effectiveness of their operations and financing."

"This is the DOGE-ing of our state university system," DeSantis said during a Tampa news conference. "And I think it's going to be good for taxpayers and it's ultimately going to be good for students, as well."

The governor said his administration would conduct a "deep dive" into "all facets of university operations and spending," with particular focus on courses, programming, and staff to ensure Florida students receive education that will "best equip them to gain meaningful employment after graduation."

But DeSantis has been explicit about the ideological dimensions of the review. In February, he said the DOGE effort would look into university finances and coursework "with an eye toward finding and eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion."

"We want to make sure that these universities are really serving the classical mission of what a university is supposed to be, and that's not to impose ideology," DeSantis said. "There are certain subjects that, you know, look if you want to do some of this, go to Cal Berkeley, go to some of these other places. We don't really want to be doing some of this stuff in Florida."

He later elaborated that the focus should be on students getting jobs by teaching "the core, important subjects," while acknowledging that "classical liberal arts subjects that are really important, can help you become a better thinker and ultimately see the world in better ways."

The tension between these statements—eliminating certain subjects while preserving classical liberal arts—has left many wondering exactly which courses DeSantis intends to target for elimination.

$33 Million in DEI Grants Already Canceled

The syllabus request comes after Florida DOGE has already taken aggressive action against university diversity programs. The department announced it has canceled or repurposed over $33 million in DEI-related grants at state universities, with an additional $10.6 million in community college grants targeted for cancellation or repurposing.

At an October press conference at the University of South Florida, DeSantis previewed additional DOGE findings, including:

• Ongoing review of tenured professors
• Examination of curriculum content
• Scrutiny of grant awards
• Review of student conduct policies
• Crackdown on H-1B visa use at universities

On the visa issue, DeSantis questioned why Florida universities employ foreign nationals in positions he believes Americans could fill.

"Why do we need to bring someone from China to talk about public policy?" he said. "An assistant swim coach from Spain on an H-1B visa? Are you kidding me? We can't produce an assistant swim coach in this country?"

As of June, USF had employed 72 H-1B visa holders during the 2025 fiscal year—ranking third among Florida universities behind the University of Florida and University of Miami.

The Efficiency Audit Findings

A separate DOGE audit released in November examined university finances and operational efficiency, producing rankings that revealed dramatic cost disparities across Florida's public university system.

The audit found:

Most Efficient: The University of Central Florida spent $46,548 per degree in fiscal year 2024, making it the state's most financially efficient institution.

Least Efficient: New College of Florida spent a staggering $494,715 per degree—more than ten times UCF's cost and far exceeding any other state institution. Florida Polytechnic University ranked second-highest at $154,213 per degree.

New College also had the highest operating expenses per student at $83,207, compared to UCF's much lower per-student costs. The small liberal arts college in Sarasota ranked second-to-last in degree yield (percentage of students graduating in any year) at 19%, and placed last for the percentage of bachelor's degree graduates who are employed or continuing their education.

The New College findings are particularly noteworthy given DeSantis' controversial 2023 overhaul of the institution, which he transformed from a progressive liberal arts college into what he envisioned as Florida's answer to conservative Hillsdale College. The governor appointed new trustees, fired the president, eliminated DEI programs, and sought to reshape the curriculum.

The DOGE audit suggests that despite—or perhaps because of—this transformation, New College's costs have ballooned while outcomes have deteriorated. Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported that New College's total spending increased from about $53 million in 2021 to about $93 million in 2025.

Board of Governors member Eric Silagy was blunt in his assessment: "If you're going to pay a lot more for something, personally, I expect exceptional performance, and that's not what we're getting."

Faculty Pushback: "Wasteful in Itself"

The comprehensive syllabus request has provoked sharp criticism from faculty leaders who question both its necessity and its implications for academic freedom.

Robin Goodman, Florida State University's faculty union president, criticized the request in an email to fellow union members, noting the disconnect between DOGE's stated mission and its actions.

"DOGE is supposed to be about eliminating waste," Goodman wrote, "so it is not clear how course syllabi relate to that mission. In fact, a data collection of this sort may be considered, by some, as wasteful in itself."

The criticism highlights a fundamental question: How does reviewing syllabi contribute to identifying financial waste? Course content decisions—what books to assign, what topics to cover, what pedagogical approaches to use—don't directly correlate with budgetary efficiency.

The only logical connection is if the administration intends to eliminate entire courses or programs deemed ideologically unacceptable or insufficiently focused on immediate employability—precisely what faculty members fear.

The Academic Freedom Question

The syllabus request raises profound concerns about academic freedom and government intrusion into curriculum decisions traditionally left to faculty expertise.

University faculty members typically have significant autonomy in designing courses within their disciplines. While departments and colleges set broad requirements and learning outcomes, individual professors decide which texts to assign, what topics to emphasize, and how to structure learning experiences based on their scholarly expertise.

Government review of syllabi to identify "ideological" content or courses that don't sufficiently focus on "meaningful employment" represents a fundamental shift in this relationship. It suggests state officials—rather than faculty with doctoral training and scholarly credentials—will make judgments about what constitutes legitimate academic content.

Critics draw parallels to authoritarian regimes that impose ideological conformity on universities, though defenders argue elected officials have legitimate oversight authority over taxpayer-funded institutions.

The tension reflects broader national debates about the purpose of higher education: Is it primarily job training, or does it include broader civic and intellectual development? Should universities focus exclusively on "practical" subjects with clear employment pathways, or is there value in humanities, arts, and social sciences that may not lead directly to specific careers?

The Timeline Problem

The December 3 deadline—just 12 days after the request was sent—adds another layer of controversy. Compiling comprehensive data on every course, collecting thousands of syllabi, organizing information by department and major, and providing detailed performance metrics for 12 universities represents an enormous administrative burden.

Faculty members are in the middle of fall semester, focusing on teaching, research, and student advising. Diverting staff to compile this documentation represents exactly the kind of administrative burden that critics argue wastes resources rather than eliminates waste.

Moreover, the compressed timeline suggests the administration wants the data quickly to present findings and make policy recommendations—possibly including course or program eliminations—before the academic year ends or the legislature convenes.

The New College situation suggests DeSantis is willing to dramatically remake institutions that don't align with his vision, even if costs increase and outcomes deteriorate in the short term.

The Political Context

The Florida DOGE initiative exists within a broader conservative campaign against higher education institutions perceived as liberal bastions imposing "woke" ideology on students.

DeSantis has positioned himself as a national leader in this movement, signing legislation in 2023 (SB 266) that eliminated courses from required general education curriculum and prohibited spending state or federal dollars on DEI initiatives.

The syllabus review represents the next phase: not just blocking new DEI programs but actively reviewing existing curriculum to identify and eliminate content deemed ideologically inappropriate.

The approach mirrors efforts in other Republican-governed states but goes further in the scope and detail of government oversight over academic content.

USF Medical School: The Model?

At the October USF press conference, DeSantis highlighted one positive example: USF's Morsani College of Medicine, which ranked as the best medical school in Florida according to the Center for Accountability in Medicine at Do No Harm.

The ranking was based on "academic excellence, transparency and rejection of DEI." DeSantis praised USF's approach as "great" because the university focuses on "evidence and facts versus DEI initiatives."

He contrasted this with Columbia University's medical school, which he criticized for having a "woke" Hippocratic Oath. Columbia's Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons reads an updated oath during its White Coat Ceremony that includes a commitment to "acknowledge and embrace the diversity that exists within all communities."

The implication is clear: universities that emphasize traditional merit-based approaches while avoiding diversity initiatives will be rewarded, while those incorporating DEI principles into curriculum or professional oaths will face scrutiny and potential consequences.

The Broader Stakes

The Florida DOGE syllabus review represents more than bureaucratic data collection. It's a test case for how much control state governments can exercise over academic content at public universities.

If DeSantis succeeds in identifying and eliminating courses he deems ideological or unnecessary, other conservative governors will likely follow suit. If faculty resistance or legal challenges block the effort, it may demonstrate limits on government authority over curriculum.

For Florida's 12 public universities, the immediate challenge is compiling the requested data by December 3 while continuing normal operations. The longer-term challenge will be navigating whatever recommendations or mandates emerge from DOGE's review.

As Ben Watkins, director of Florida's Division of Bond Finance, told the Board of Governors: "What we're recommending is for the universities to think about themselves as business enterprises and to manage their operations accordingly."

Whether universities should operate as "business enterprises" focused primarily on employability and efficiency metrics, or whether they serve broader educational and civic missions, remains the fundamental question underlying Florida's DOGE experiment.

The answer will shape not just which courses appear in catalogs, but what it means to be an educated person in 21st century America.