FIU is one step closer to becoming Florida’s next preeminent research university. On Thursday, the Board of Governors designated FIU as an “emerging preeminent state research university.”
“As a relatively young institution – compared to our peers in the State University System – this is a major milestone moment in our history,” said FIU President Mark B. Rosenberg. “It’s an honor to receive this kind of recognition from the state legislature and the Board of Governors, because it truly speaks to their confidence in our mission to provide economic mobility for our diverse community, while also accelerating our efforts as a top-tier research university.”
Introduced into Florida law in 2013, the Florida Preeminence program elevates and rewards the state’s highest-performing state research universities based on student success and research performance metrics. Currently, three of Florida’s 12 public universities have met these standards. In 2016, the new ‘emerging preeminent’ status was created – allowing designated universities the opportunity to create a plan to reach preeminent status.
“Thank you to our faculty who played a critical role in FIU’s meteoric rise in research preeminence going from meeting only two preeminent criteria in 2018 to eight in 2019,” said Kenneth G. Furton, FIU Provost and Executive Vice President.
FIU met eight emerging preeminent metrics in the following categories:
- Average GPA and SAT score
- Freshman retention rate
- National Academy Members
- Non-medical science and engineering research expenditures
- National ranking in STEM research expenditures
- Patents awarded
- Doctoral degrees awarded annually
- Number of Post-Doctoral Appointees
FIU is focused on three additional metrics to achieve preeminence designation:
- Top 50 public university in national rankings
- Science and engineering research expenditures
- Four-year graduation rate for full-time students
The Board of Governors research designation complements FIU’s Carnegie classification as a top (R1) research university.
