University of Florida seeks an H-1B for a financial analyst, president Bell says it was made without his approval
The University of Florida filed a notice of intent to hire an H-1B visa holder as a financial analyst for a salary of $64,928.The employment period as mentioned in the notice is from February 2, 2027, to February 1, 2030. A notice of intent is not a job posting; it is strictly regulatory compliance to inform current employees that the employer (here, the university) has filed a Labor Condition Application to hire an H-1B. Generally, a candidate is already selected for the position when the notice of intent is published.While the filing came at a time when H-1B hiring across the US is under watch, Florida has already stopped H-1 B hiring in universities earlier this year.University president Stuart Bell said the filing was made without his approval and has been removed immediately. The university is following the statewide ban on H-1B hiring that the Florida Board of Governors voted for on March 2 and will be in effect until January 5, 2027. In the vote, it was decided that universities won’t have to fire existing H-1Bs and their contract can be renewed too but there will be no new hiring of H-1B visa holders.“This job was posted without my approval or authorization, and it has been removed,” Bell said. “The University of Florida will continue to remain in full compliance with Governor DeSantis’ direction on H-1B hires.”The filing came to light when Chris Brunet, a former contributing editor at The American Conservative who now runs an online newsletter, posted the details on X.The University of Florida employs the largest number of H-1B visa holders among the state’s public universities, according to The Independent Florida Alligator.
Florida Guv Ron DeSantis’ war against H-1B
In October 2025, DeSantis questioned why universities had staff members on H-1B visas such as a public-policy professor from China, a psychologist and counselor from the United Kingdom, an athletics operations and communications coordinator from Trinidad and Tobago and an assistant swimming coach from Spain. He was speaking at the University of South Florida. “We can do it with our residents in Florida or with Americans, and if we can’t do it, then, man, we need to really look deeply at what is going on with this situation,” DeSantis said.By January 2026, the Florida Board of Governors set up a proposed ban on H-1Bs for final approval. The voting took place in March and the ban is in place.
