College Navigator indicates that there are 40 public colleges, 54 private non-profit colleges, and 28 private for-profit colleges in the state.
According to College Board, in-state students attending a public, four-year college in Florida paid this amount in the 2021-22 school year.
College Board also estimates that in 2020-21, the average U.S. undergraduate student received this amount in total financial aid.
This list features some of the best brick-and-mortar schools in Florida. Each school featured is a nonprofit, accredited institution — either public or private — with a high standard of academic quality for post-secondary institutions. We included liberal arts colleges and research universities as well as small, midsize, and large institutions. Next, we compared this comprehensive list to a list of aggregated college rankings from reputable publications like the U.S. News & World Report among others to simplify a student’s college search. We pored through these rankings so students don’t have to.
The colleges on our list are accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), a reputable organization that examines the objectives, quality, and overall effectiveness of education programs in the southern United States.
We evaluated each school on tuition costs, admission, retention and graduation rates, faculty, and reputation as well as the student resources provided for on-campus students. Then we calculated the Intelligent Score on a scale of 0 to 100. Read more about our ranking methodology.
A major part of choosing your career or the state in which you’ll pursue an education is the potential for employment and career growth. The industry that employs the most people in Florida is trade, transportation, and utilities. This is followed by professional and business services, education and health services, leisure and hospitality, and retail trade.
The fastest-growing career fields in Florida for workers with a bachelor’s degree are in the information and analysis sector, many of which are employed in the hospitality industry. Indeed, the two jobs at this education level that are seeing the most growth are data scientists and information security analysts.
Of the 150 largest employers in the state, job seekers with a bachelor’s degree may be interested in looking for jobs in Palm Beach County Schools, AdventHealth Orlando, Epcot in Disney World, Edelman, or Raymond James.
Many students’ main concern is how to cover the cost of tuition. The following list includes some helpful state and national resources for securing financial aid in Florida: