Florida Schools – Accredited Only

Florida, with nearly 20 million residents, has the third greatest population of the 50 U.S. states. The state’s large population, combined with a significant annual influx of out-of-state students who come to “the sunshine state” every year to enjoy the sunshine and beaches while earning a degree, is the reason Florida has so many colleges and universities within its borders. The state of Florida lists 28 institutions under the heading of “community colleges”, but most have undergone name changes and offer at least one four-year degree in addition to numerous associate-degree programs. Several are multiple-campus institutions. The evolution of Florida’s two-year colleges was prompted by the increasing student demand for four-year educational options, the increasing selectivity of the state universities, the desire to increase adult access to higher education, and the fact that it costs less to educate students at smaller, non-research based institutions.

In addition to the aforementioned institutions, Florida supports 11 colleges and universities, including one (University of South Florida) with two campuses. The largest public university in the state, with more than fifty thousand students, is the University of Florida, located in Gainesville. The university is quite selective, admitting 39% of its applicants. In additional to traditional undergraduate and graduate degree programs, the university offers over 100 online degree and online certificate programs in subjects including business, engineering, and sports management. Next in size is Florida State University, with about 42,000 students studying on its campus in the state’s capital, Tallahassee. Florida State is moderately selective, admitting over half of its applicants.

New College of Florida, formerly a part of University of South Florida, is an innovative public honors college enrolling between 800-850 students. The college offers students a 10-1 student to faculty ratio, 40 major fields of study, and the chance to design, with faculty assistance and approval, their own programs of study. Because it is an alternative to higher-cost, small, private colleges, both The Princeton Review and business magazine Forbes have judged New College a top value institution. The college is selective; the middle 50% of admitted students have weighted GPA’s of between 3.73 and 4.28 and ACT composite scores in the 26-30 range.

There are more than 30 private colleges in Florida, the most comprehensive of which is the University of Miami, which enrolls nearly 17,000 students in bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degree programs. Special-focus colleges in Florida include Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, Florida Hospital College of Health and Sciences, Miami International University of Art & Design, and Ringling School of Art and Design. Nova Southeastern University, with a student population in the neighborhood of twenty-five thousand, was a pioneer in online education, and continues to offer online degrees in several academic areas.

Traditional Colleges In Florida

American InterContinental University

• Site – www.aiuonline.com
• Phone – 888-359-9757
• Admissions – n/a
• Financial Aid – n/a

Barry University

• Site – www.barry.edu
• Phone – 800-695-2279
• Admissions – admissions@mail.barry.edu
• Financial Aid – finaid@mail.barry.edu

Carlos Albizu University

• Site – www.albizu.edu
• Phone – 800-672-3246
• Admissions – admissions@albizu.edu
• Financial Aid – mchavez@albizu.edu

Clearwater Christian College

• Site – www.clearwater.edu
• Phone – 800-348-4463
• Admissions – admissions@clearwater.edu
• Financial Aid – admissions@clearwater.edu

Eckerd College

• Site – www.eckerd.edu
• Phone – 800-456-9009
• Address – 4200 54th Ave S, St Petersburg, FL 33711

Embry Riddle University

• Site – www.erau.edu
• Phone  – 800-943-2416
• Address – 5, 600 S Clyde Morris Blvd, Daytona Beach, FL 32114

Flagler College

• Site – www.flagler.edu
• Phone – 800-304-4208
• Address – 74 King St, St Augustine, FL 32084

Florida Atlantic University

• Site – www.fau.edu
• Phone – 800-299-4FAU
• Address – 777 Glades Rd, Boca Raton, FL 33431

Florida Gulf Coast University

• Site – www.fgcu.edu
• Phone – 888-889-1095
• Address – 10501 FGCU Blvd S, Fort Myers, FL 33965

Florida Institute of Technology

• Site – www.fit.edu
• Phone – 800-888-4348
• Address – 150 W University Blvd, Melbourne, FL 32901

Florida International Univ.

• Site – www.fiu.edu
• Phone – 305-348-2363
• Address – 11200 SW 8th St, Miami, FL 33199

Florida Southern College

• Site – www.flsouthern.edu
• Phone – 800-274-4131
• Address – 111 Lake Hollingsworth Dr, Lakeland, FL 33801

Florida State University

• Site – www.fsu.edu
• Phone – 800-644-2525
• Address – 600 W College Ave, Tallahassee, FL 32306

Honors College of Florida Atlantic University

• Site – www.fau.edu
• Phone – 800-920-8705
• Address –  777 Glades Road – SU 80 P.O. Box 3091 Boca Raton, FL 33431-0991

Jacksonville University

• Site – www.ju.edu
• Phone – 800-225-2027
• Address – 2800 University Blvd, Jacksonville, FL 32211

Johnson & Wales University

• Site – www1.jwu.edu
• Phone – 866-598-3567
• Address – 1701 NE 127th St, North Miami, FL 33181

Lynn University

• Site – www.lynn.edu
• Phone – 800-544-8035
• Address – 3601 N Military Trl, Boca Raton, FL 33431

New College of Florida

• Site – www.ncf.edu
• Phone – 941-359-4269
• Address – 5800 Bay Shore Rd, Sarasota, FL 34243

Northwood University Florida (Now Keiser)

• Site – www.keiseruniversity.edu
• Phone – 800-458-8325
• Address – 2600 N Military Trl, West Palm Beach, FL 33409

Nova Southeastern University

• Site – www.nova.edu
• Phone – 800-541-6682
• Address – 3301 College Ave, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33314

Palm Beach Atlantic University

• Site – www.pba.edu
• Phone – 800-GO-TO-PBA
• Address – 901 S Flagler Dr, West Palm Beach, FL 33401

Pasco-Hernando State College

• Site – www.phsc.edu
• Phone – (352) 567-6701
• Address – 36727 Blanton Rd, Dade City, FL 33523

Ringling College of Art and Design

• Site – www.ringling.edu
• Phone – 800-255-7695
• Address – 2700 N Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, FL 34234

Rollins College

• Site – www.rollins.edu
• Phone – 407-646-2161
• Address – 1000 Holt Ave, Winter Park, FL 32789

Saint Leo University

• Site – www.saintleo.edu
• Phone – 800-334-5532
• Address – 33701 FL-52, St Leo, FL 33574

Saint Thomas University

• Site – www.stu.edu
• Phone – 800-367- 9010
• Address – 16401 NW 37th Ave, Miami Gardens, FL 33054

Stetson University

• Site – www.stetson.edu
• Phone – 800-688-0101
• Address – 421 N Woodland Blvd, DeLand, FL 32723

University of Central Florida

• Site – www.ucf.edu
• Phone – 407-823-2000
• Address – 4000 Central Florida Blvd, Orlando, FL 32816

University of Florida

• Site – www.ufl.edu
• Phone – 352-392-3261
• Address – Gainesville, FL 32611

University of Miami

• Site – www.welcome.miami.edu
• Phone – 305-284- 4323
• Address – S Dixie Hwy, Coral Gables, FL 33124

University of South Florida

• Site – www.usf.edu
• Phone – 813-974-3350
• Address – 4202 E Fowler Ave, Tampa, FL 33620

University of Tampa

• Site – www.ut.edu
• Phone – 800-646-2738
• Address – 401 W Kennedy Blvd, Tampa, FL 33606

University of West Florida

• Site – uwf.edu
• Phone – 800-263-1074
• Address – 11000 University Pkwy, Pensacola, FL 32514

Warner Southern College

• Site – warner.edu
• Phone – 800-949-7248
• Address – 13895 N US Hwy 27, Lake Wales, FL 33859

Webber College

• Site – www.webber.edu
• Phone – 800-741-1844
• Address – 1201 N Scenic Hwy, Babson Park, FL 33827

Community Colleges – Florida

Brevard Community College

• Site – www.brevardcc.edu
• Address – 3865 N Wickham Rd, Melbourne, FL 32935
• Phone – (321) 254-6651

Florida Gateway College

• Site – www.fgc.edu
• Address – 149 SE College Pl, Lake City, FL 32025
• Phone – (386) 752-1822

Florida Keys Community College

• Site – www.fkcc.edu
• Address – Coastal Key Rd, Key West, FL 33040
• Phone – (305) 296-9081

Hillsborough Community College

• Site – www.hccfl.edu
• Address – 1206 North Park Road, Plant City, FL 33563
• Phone – (813) 253-7000

Lake-Sumter Community College

• Site – www.lscc.edu/Pages/default.aspx
• Address – 9501 US-441, Leesburg, FL 34788
• Phone – (352) 787-3747

North Florida Community College

• Site – www.nfcc.edu
• Address – 325 Turner Davis Dr, Madison, FL 32340
• Phone – (850) 973-2288

Pasco-Hernando State College

• Site – www.phsc.edu
• Address – 36727 Blanton Rd, Dade City, FL 33523
• Phone – (352) 567-6701

South Florida Community College

• Site – www.southflorida.edu
• Address – 600 W College Dr, Avon Park, FL 33825
• Phone – (863) 453-6661

Tallahassee Community College

• Site – www.tcc.fl.edu
• Address – 444 Appleyard Drive, Tallahassee, FL 32304
• Phone – (850) 201-6200

Vocational, Trade & Career Colleges In Florida

Auburndale

Everest University

Southern Technical College

Boca Raton

Digital Media Arts College

Everglades University

Bradenton

Florida College of Natural Health

Brandon

Everest University

Florida Career College

Casselberry

City College

Clearwater

Everest University

FastTrain

Florida Career College

National Aviation Academy

Sunstate Academy

Ultimate Medical Academy

Coral Gables

FastTrain

Dania Beach

Key College

Daytona Beach

Keiser University

Nova Southeastern University

University of Phoenix

WyoTech

Angley College

Everest University

Florida Technical College

Florida Online Colleges & Programs

Florida attracts many different types of students. Those seeking an education in Florida from outside of the state are likely to want to enjoy the state’s warm weather and beaches. However, as state with a high population, many in-state students may be looking to take their education online instead. Luckily, Florida is replete with options for those prospective students that want a fully-online educational experience. According to a 2012 National Center for Education Statistics Report, over 16% of students enrolled in Title IV schools in the state of Florida were taking fully-online degree programs. This makes Florida among the top in the nation for providing online educational degree programs.

Prospective students interested in Florida’s school will find not only a host of options but also some of the least expensive tuition and per-credit costs in the country as well. The most affordable online programs in the state can be found at Florida Gateway College, Daytona State College, Indian River State College, Florida Atlantic University and Florida Gulf Coast University. Each of these offer tuition rates under $2,600, and each has per-credit costs at around $100 or less. Florida Gateway College easily bests all of these, with an annual tuition under $2,000, and a per-credit cost under $80. The school itself mostly offers individual classes for students to take, so signing up for an online degree program can be a bit tricky. The #2 most affordable school for online degrees and courses, Daytona State College, has high praise from the U.S. News and World Report. Favorably ranked at #2 for the Report’s Best Online Bachelor’s Programs, the school offers undergraduate degrees in Nursing, Supervision and Management, Information Technology and Engineering Technology. The school also has a wide range of Associate degree options, such as Arts, Accounting Technology, Criminal Justice Technology, Industrial Management Technology, Internet Services Technology and Office Administration. Daytona State College also utilizes a 2+2 program model. Students are required to take 2 years for an Associate degree program and 2 years for a Bachelor’s degree program.

Daytona State College, along with many colleges and universities in Florida, is a member of the Florida Shines Electronic Campus. The online course catalog available through Florida Shines directs prospective students to hundreds of potential degree programs across dozens of colleges and universities within the state. In total, there are 656 degrees possible through the Florida Shines Electronic Campus, ranging from Associate degrees (137 programs available), Bachelor’s degrees (119 programs available), Master’s degrees (164 programs available), Doctoral degrees (4 available), as well as graduate certificate programs (107 available) and undergraduate certificate programs (125 available). Twenty-nine of the state’s colleges and universities offer programs online through this system. Several of these have an overabundance of the programs on the list. The University of South Florida, for example, has 110 programs in the system. The University of West Florida has 61. The University of Central Florida has 89 programs available in the system, and Florida State University, which is ranked at #96 among national universities according to the U.S. News and World Report, has 45 programs available through Florida Shines.

Chances are, prospective students interested in online degree programs in Florida will find not only what they are looking for, but enough options to help them consider career choices they may not have considered before conducting research into online degree programs.