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Orlando Business Journal: Ed Moore of ICUF talks growth, challenges for private colleges
Friday, August 02, 2013
If you want to know more about doing business with private colleges in Florida,Ed Moore is your guy.
As president of Independent Colleges & Universities of Florida, Moore, who has been with the organization for 10 years, said he has a very long list of duties at ICUF, but in large part, he’s the voice and face at the state and national levels for independent higher education.
“Whether it is with legislative bodies, various forms of media or civic organizations, I am constantly advocating for quality access and opportunity.”
Moore said ICUF’s biggest achievement during the past 12 months has been continuing to expand access to higher education for Floridians, from every walk of life and every economic strata.
“ICUF is a diverse association of 31 private, educational institutions. These colleges and universities award 26 percent of Florida’s bachelor degrees and one-third of all degrees,” Moore said.
But there’s still plenty of room for improvement, Moore said. For example, private schools are still plagued by college access and affordability as well as a lack of partnering with public colleges.
There are “not as many [partnerships] as there should be. This is an area that has declined since the state colleges began to expand baccalaureate offerings,” he said.
However, private colleges have spent more than a billion dollars over the past six to eight years on capital projects, which have created many needed jobs during the recession.
Private colleges are “growing, expanding and even more integrated into the spectrum of options for students. They are adapting and innovating,” Moore said.