Last year, Florida lawmakers committed $35-million to the University of Florida to create a reduced-cost, online-only baccalaureate program. The resulting program, UF Online, launched its first term in January 2014 with 20 classes. Around 95 percent of those enrolled, 565 students, completed the first semester. UF Online has received about 1,500 applications for its second term which will launch this fall with expected enrolment to be about 1,000 students. Earlier this year, UF Online was criticized by the Gainesville Sun newspaper for failing to making public all of the details of its contract with Embanet, which is owned by Pearson. Embanet will help UF Online create digital content, provide marketing and recruiting services, and help to manage enrollment and retention. According to the criticism, “the company could receive up to $186-million over 10 years, although the amount is contingent upon how many students it brings in.”