The Best Colleges in Florida of 2023

With over 300 million dollars in total research spending, Florida State University bills itself as a research-intensive university. Their resume includes everything from investigating new ways of creating a film to understanding oil spills and their environmental impact. They're particularly known for their criminal justice and film degrees. Less known are delightful traditions, such as students getting dunked in the Westcott Fountain after turning 21. They also have a lot of opportunities to join and participate in Greek life, and the FSU football team is known as the Seminoles. It's a great option for students looking to stay local, as roughly 85% of the student body comprises Florida residents.

Florida State University (FSU) offers a wide variety of both undergraduate and graduate degree paths for students to choose from. The school is best known for their College of Motion Picture Arts - the critically acclaimed directors Barry Jenkins and David Robert Mitchell graduated from this program, and its alumni includes many successful editors and screenwriters as well. Students have access to world-class facilities, including writers' rooms, sound stages, fully-loaded grip trucks, RED Digital Cinema cameras, animation labs, and screening rooms. 96% of graduates are able to find work in the film industry within one year of completing this program.

The University of Miami has a remarkably beautiful campus, featuring palm tree-lined paths, a freshwater lake, and a botanical garden. It also offers state-of-the-art research facilities and one of the largest university library systems in the country. This is a great option for students who enjoy nightlife due to the school's close proximity to Downtown Miami and Miami Beach, and there are excellent opportunities for outdoor activities such as hiking, swimming, fishing, and camping at the nearby Florida Keys and Everglades National Park.

Stagnation is not something anyone wants from an establishment providing higher education. They state they've been the fastest-rising university on U.S. News and World Reports in the last ten years, taking into account improving graduation rates, student financing, student-to-faculty ratio, and expertise. They've also won the Higher Education in Excellence Diversity Award from the INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine - evidence of success from their 5-year plan for improving inclusion of students from a wide variety of backgrounds. Its main campus is in Tampa, but there are additional locations in Sarasota and St. Petersburg.

The University of Central Florida (UCF) stands out as the best school for those who are interested in pursuing a career in the burgeoning space industry. Indeed, this college was initially created to provide personnel for the Kennedy Space Center during the Space Race of the 1960s. It continues to be one of the top universities for space research to this day - 17 asteroids (and a planet) have been named after UCF researchers that discovered them, nearly a third of current Kennedy Space Center employees are UCF alumni, and since 2019 there have been eight UCF experiments sent aboard Blue Origin, SpaceX, and Virgin Galactic rockets. The school is often involved in NASA projects as well, providing graduate students with exciting opportunities to gain firsthand experience in this field.

FIU is home to a unique research project known as the Aquarius Reef Base. This is an underwater habitat located 60 feet underneath the surface of the ocean. Divers utilize this for specialized training, maritime technology testing, and community outreach. It has also been used as an underwater analog mission to train astronauts as a part of NASA's NEEMO project. They even have a hurricane simulator that can create over 150 mph winds. It's no wonder such an unparalleled research lab is located at FIU. They advertise having received over 2 billion dollars in awards and developing more than 300 patents.

Florida A&M University (FAMU) is the third largest historically black college in the country by enrollment and the only such college in the state. The most notable academic program at this school is their College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, which provides a Doctor of Pharmacy degree path as well as bachelor's, master's, and Ph.D. options for pharmaceutical sciences majors. FAMU's Doctor of Pharmacy class of 2021 had an impressive 89.9% first-time pass rate on the NAPLEX exam. In addition to their main campus in Tallahassee, these programs are also available at FAMU's Durell Peaden Rural Pharmacy Education Campus in Crestview.

Anyone who is interested in studying the environment should strongly consider attending the Florida Institute of Technology (Florida Tech). They offer bachelor's, master's, and Ph.D. options for environmental science majors, and their degree programs also include Bachelor's in Sustainability Studies, Master's in Ecology, and Master's in Environmental Resource Management. Florida Tech operates several research centers related to this field, including their Wind and Hurricane Impact Research Laboratory and the Palmer Lab of Chemical Ecology and Astrobiology.

The University of North Florida (UNF) has been recognized as one of the best schools for veterans by publications such as Military Times and Military Friendly. The school's Military and Veterans Resource Center (MVRC) includes a lounge area, daily use lockers, computer workstations, free printing, and a kitchen with free coffee. You'll also find VA Certifying Officials at MVRC, who can help you with accessing financial aid, tutoring services, counseling services, and job search assistance. Over a dozen UNF scholarship programs are available exclusively to veterans, military dependents, and military spouses.

There are over 170 degree programs available at Florida Atlantic University. This is the best school in the state for urban planning students, as they conduct a high amount of research in this field and provide students with an opportunity to use advanced visualization technology. Bachelor's in Urban and Regional Planning, Bachelor's in Urban Design, and Master's in Urban and Regional Planning programs are available.