Florida's largest teacher preparer is not a university.
Florida's colleges and universities finished 60% fewer new teachers in 2023–24 than in 2010–11. District and charter programs held steady, and now finish more than any single university.
Federal Title II data count everyone who finishes a Florida state-approved program leading to a teaching certificate. In 2010–11, colleges and universities finished 7,406. In 2023–24 they finished 2,958. The State University System alone fell from 4,428 to 1,746.
District and charter programs did not fall. The state's Professional Learning Certification Program, run by districts, charter schools and charter management organizations, finished 652 teachers in 2010–11 and 657 in 2023–24. That makes it Florida's largest single preparer. The largest university, UCF, finished 392.
Private providers outside colleges went from none to 162. One of them, Noble Education Initiative, which serves more than 100 charter schools, finished 116 Florida teachers. The University of Florida finished 106. Programs outside colleges now produce 22% of Florida's new teachers, up from 8%.
Degrees fell less than certificates. Florida education bachelor's degrees fell 36% from 2011–12 to 2023–24. FIU awarded 433 education bachelor's degrees in 2023–24; 65 people finished its teacher program.
The limit, first. These counts include only programs leading to a Florida certificate. Private-school and microschool teachers who need no certificate, and Floridians trained by out-of-state online programs, do not appear. Neither source records where completers go on to teach. The 2016–17 federal file double-counts and is left out.
The chart and data are on the homepage.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Education — Title II state data files, Florida
- NCES — IPEDS completions data files
- FLDOE — Professional Learning Certification Programs
- Florida Charter School Alliance — Noble Education Initiative
Cite as: When Money Follows the Child. Florida's largest teacher preparer is not a university Field Note 10, October 2026. https://www.whenmoneyfollowsthechild.org/notes/10/ Accessed [date].