Florida Colleges and Universities

Major Universities in Florida

Florida Colleges and Universities Map

The State of Florida supports public education and no child in the state is deprived of basic standards. Counties assign budgets for public education to add to the state fund. The Florida Department of Education (FLDOE) is the agency that oversees public education in the state and manages both finances and operations for public education institutions. The FLDOE is managed by the Florida Commissioner for Education and is the responsibility of the Governor. The Florida Board of Education or the State Board of Education assists the FLDOE by managing K-12 and community college education in the state. The FLDOE supports over 3,800 public schools and over 2.6 million students across the states are benefited. The department also supports over 180,000 teachers of public schools in the state.

The introduction of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) was part of Republican Governor Jeb Bush’s election campaign agenda. Introduced as part of the A+ Plan, the FCAT is administered thrice a year to every student from grades three to eleven in public schools. Funding to a school is apportioned on the basis of the school’s performance in the FCAT. The schools are graded from A to F and the evaluation criteria include student performance and the school’s improvement over past performances.



The State University System of Florida (SUSF) manages the operations and funds of the state's ten public universities including Florida A&M University, Florida Atlantic University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Florida International University, Florida State University, University of Florida, University of North Florida, University of Central Florida, University of West Florida, and University of South Florida. The SUSF also manages the New College of Florida, the state's public liberal arts college. The state of Florida also has about 26 community colleges with a number of campuses.

Besides the public higher education institutions, Florida has a number of private colleges and universities offering undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate programs. Over 28 such private higher education institutions of Florida formed the Independent Colleges and Universities of Florida (ICUF). The ICUF institutions have been accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Some of these are colleges and universities such as Miami University, Southeastern University, Jacksonville University, University of Tampa, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and St. Leo University. attract a number of foreign students as well. Over 20 other universities and colleges of Florida are fully accredited private higher education institutions but are not part of the ICUF association. Everglades University, Miami International University, Ave Maria University, Johnson & Wales University, Northwood University, Schiller International University, and Orlando Culinary Academy are among these institutions.

Agriculture, atmospheric science, business administration and accounting, economics, engineering, forestry, law, medicine and dentistry, arts, culinary management and healthcare management are the popular disciplines pursued in the state.

Map of Major Universities in the US