Resources to Find Florida Colleges

Where to Start Looking to Find Florida Colleges

Families looking for Florida colleges should start at The Florida Student Scholarship and Grant Programs which is sponsored by the Florida Department of Student Financial Assistance. This is essentially the state site for state funded grants and scholarships. The website includes information on the Bright Futures Scholarship Program and the Talented Twenty Program. The site contains the online and PDF version of the Florida Financial Aid Application.

The Florida Choices website is sponsored by the Florida Department of Education. Students who register can create a portfolio of work and take various skills assessments. Users can search for colleges using the school finder which searches on an extensive list of characteristics and isn’t limited to Florida schools. The site includes a scholarships search and the ability to compare schools. There is also a good overview of the federal financial aid programs. The department also sponsors the College Goal Sunday website.

The Florida Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators provide a ten page PDF on Planning for a Higher Education under the Be College Go To School Brochure. Although not very user-friendly, students planning on starting out at a community college might want to visit the Department of Education’s Articulation section.

Some Numbers to Help You Find a College

According to IPEDS, there are 69 Florida colleges with 500 or more full-time undergraduates. These include 22 institutions that grant  some four-year bachelor degrees but are primarily community colleges.  Of the 441,778 students, almost 78.9% attend the 36 public institutions in the state compared to the 21.1% at Florida’s 33 private colleges.

The average four-year graduation rate for private Florida colleges is 34.1% and the five-year rate for public-institutions with available information is 49.7%. A total of 11 schools meet the DIY College Rankings 50-50 profile requirements.

College-bound seniors in Florida had an average of 19.6 ACT Composite score with a 18.7 for English and 19.5 for Math. The 75th Percentile scores were a Composite of 23, 23 for English, and 23 for Math.  A total of 29 colleges ACT 75th% Composite scores were at or above this level.

The top 20 colleges ACT test takers in Florida applied to:

• University of Central Florida
• Florida State University
• University of Florida
• University of South Florida
• Florida International University
• Florida Atlantic University
• Florida Gulf Coast University
• University of North Florida
• University of Miami
• Valencia College
• Miami Dade College
• Florida A&M University
• University of West Florida The
• University of Tampa
• Bethune-Cookman University
• Nova Southeastern University
• Santa Fe College
• Stetson University
• Florida State Coll At Jacksonville
• Palm Beach Community College

Florida Colleges Conferences and Divisions

List of Colleges in Florida

In the following table, the four-year graduation rate is used for private colleges and the five-year rate for public colleges. The data are based on the data available from IPEDS in December of 2014 which are available on the DIY College Search spreadsheet.

New York Colleges with Test Scores and Graduation Rates
(download PDF version)

Name	Type	Full-time Under- grads	4/5 Yr Grad Rate	% Admitted	Net Price
Adventist University of Health Sciences	Private	604	0	13	16437
Ave Maria University	Private	890	55	60	18632
Barry University	Private	3619	22	47	21004
Bethune-Cookman University	Private	3611	23	67	16518
Broward College	Public	13342			8174
Chipola College	Public	942			4785
College of Central Florida	Public	3048			9895
Daytona State College	Public	6156			6811
Eastern Florida State College	Public	5929			5706
Eckerd College	Private	1947	59	71	30352
Edison State College	Public	5040			9836
Edward Waters College	Private	845	1	27	12188
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Daytona Beach	Private	4359	34	74	34757
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Worldwide	Private	2898	29	99	17983
Everglades University	Private	1184	58	91	22650
Flagler College-St Augustine	Private	2746	46	50	20910
Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University	Public	8040	29	45	11335
Florida Atlantic University	Public	15891	33	48	13614
Florida College	Private	533	9	59	19016
Florida Gateway College	Public	951			4688
Florida Gulf Coast University	Public	10151	38	66	13297
Florida Institute of Technology	Private	3068	39	60	32192
Florida Institute of Technology-Online	Private	1359
Florida International University	Public	25954	41	43	12122
Florida Memorial University	Private	1414	23	42	16005
Florida Southern College	Private	2126	47	50	22423
Florida State College at Jacksonville	Public	9217			7336
Florida State University	Public	28910	74	57	15511
Gulf Coast State College	Public	2224			5070
Hodges University	Private	1303	0	83	17407
Indian River State College	Public	5940			1846
Jacksonville University	Private	2201	24	47	20618
Johnson & Wales University-North Miami	Private	1900	31	65	22535
Keiser University-Ft Lauderdale	Private	12007	59	93	21420
Lake-Sumter State College	Public	1246			4680
Lynn University	Private	1634	33	78	35458
Miami Dade College	Public	26579			14535
New College of Florida	Public	793	64	61	12018
Northwest Florida State College	Public	2677			8864
Northwood University-Florida	Private	538	28	51	16764
Nova Southeastern University	Private	3452	25	57	27615
Palm Beach Atlantic University	Private	2358	40	84	22793
Palm Beach State College	Public	9460			2647
Pensacola State College	Public	4467			8134
Polk State College	Public	3841			9304
Ringling College of Art and Design	Private	1212	56	73	45462
Rollins College	Private	2366	61	59	32225
Saint Johns River State College	Public	2292			7167
Saint Leo University	Private	8663	31	77	17624
Santa Fe College	Public	6059			7966
Seminole State College of Florida	Public	6885			8443
South Florida State College	Public	970			5536
Southeastern University	Private	2473	24	59	18797
St Petersburg College	Public	9118			7695
St Thomas University	Private	963	28	46	18379
State College of Florida-Manatee-Sarasota	Public	4381			10461
Stetson University	Private	2692	56	59	21975
The University of Tampa	Private	6188	51	52	26735
The University of West Florida	Public	7581	36	48	11873
University of Central Florida	Public	36229	61	49	15033
University of Florida	Public	30314	83	47	15157
University of Miami	Private	10637	71	40	31164
University of North Florida	Public	10088	43	53	13207
University of South Florida-Main Campus	Public	23734	57	45	11335
University of South Florida-Sarasota-Manatee	Public	837		35
University of South Florida-St Petersburg	Public	2658	38	44	12618
Valencia College	Public	16523			6063
Warner University	Private	888	26	34	16109
Webber International University	Private	633	2	64	21375