Heritage Foundation senior fellow and West Virginia resident Adam Kissel continues to serve on the University of West Florida Board of Trustees, despite his belief that public colleges should not exist. He reiterated that belief on X yesterday when he reposted someone’s tweet about the CUNY chancellor:
One way to avoid such conflict is not to have public colleges in the first place. But that turns out not to be a very popular position.
Background: Kissel was rejected by the Senate Ethics & Elections Committee and the Senate Appropriations Committee on Higher Education. He remains on the Board of Trustees because Gov. Ron DeSantis reappointed him. However, he will likely be rejected again during the 2026 Legislative Session. Until then, Kissel will chair the Academic Affairs Committee for an institution that he believes shouldn’t exist and one with no connection to him. Kissel can try to remake UWF with no consequences.
Dig Deep: In a 2024 paper for the Heritage Foundation, Kissel wrote that universities should be privatized.
He proposed two approaches:
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- The first approach: gradually reduce state funding to zero while allowing universities to retain their land. This method would free up billions in state budgets but would likely face significant resistance from university stakeholders.
- The second approach: provide universities with a one-time endowment equal to 18-20 times their current annual state funding, financed through long-term bonds. They must agree never to receive state funding again.
Kissel argued that privatization could bring market discipline to higher education. Without guaranteed state funding, universities would need to:
– Focus on student outcomes to remain competitive
– Innovate in their program offerings and delivery methods
– Respond more effectively to market demands
– Compete fairly with existing private institutions
Dig Even Deeper: Senate Appropriations Committee on Higher Education Chair Senator Gayle Harrell questioned Kissel about his writings advocating for the privatization of public universities. She specifically referenced the above article, where Kissel suggested states could save $126 billion per year by stopping higher education subsidies.
- Sen. Harrell asked, “What is your thought about that now? This was just a year ago that you wrote this paper. Should we, as an appropriations committee, stop funding state universities, University of West Florida in particular?”
Kissel dodged the question: “The piece that you’re referring to used as this example, shrinking, troubled small university in West Virginia, the kind of university that should be considered for privatization is one that’s in a situation like that. I know of no such university in the whole state of Florida that is like that UWF is growing. State of Florida is growing. I would say that probably more resources rather than fewer should be going to a growing university like the University of West Florida.”
- The Florida Senate committee members weren’t fooled.
Note: X notified me – “@kissel_adam has blocked you You can view public posts from @kissel_adam, but you are blocked from engaging with them. You also cannot follow or message @kissel_adam.”
