Florida post-tenure review law drives faculty departures, especially high-performing researchers, a 2025 study finds

A 2025 study examining the effects of Florida's post-tenure review legislation found that the law drove increased faculty departures from Florida public universities, with the most productive researchers — those with the strongest publication records, grant funding, and national reputations — disproportionately likely to leave. Faculty who had received strong external offers before the law was passed increasingly accepted those positions rather than remaining in an environment they described as politically hostile. Post-tenure review had existed before, but Florida's iteration created much shorter review cycles and gave administrators and politically appointed boards far more authority to terminate tenured faculty than traditional peer-review processes allowed. Losing high-profile scholars had compounding effects on graduate student recruitment, research funding, and institutional prestige.