Florida’s best colleges for 2027 are the University of Florida, Florida State University, and the University of Miami, followed by the University of South Florida and Florida International University. Florida offers many top colleges, and the right one depends on what you want from a school. Some students want a large university with tens of thousands of classmates, while others want a smaller campus with a more personal feel.

The University of Florida or Florida State University could be a good fit if you want a large university, since both enroll more than 45,000 students. If you want something smaller, consider New College of Florida, Rollins College, or Stetson University, which have about 700 to 3,700 students. No matter which you choose, Florida offers beaches, theme parks, and warm weather. You can also read the University Magazine rankings methodology and see our university rankings for context.

The Best Colleges In Florida 2027

 

1. University of Florida

The University of Florida is the state’s flagship, with roots dating back to 1853, when the East Florida Seminary opened in Ocala. The school moved to Gainesville, and the first classes there started on September 26, 1906. Fall 2023 enrollment was 54,814 students, and 24 percent of first-time freshmen who applied got in.

UF has 16 colleges, more than 150 research centers, and a main campus spanning more than 2,000 acres. It spent more than $1.33 billion on sponsored research in fiscal 2025 and has been a member of the Association of American Universities since 1985. Its alumni include two Nobel winners, Robert Grubbs and Marshall Nirenberg. The Gators play in the Southeastern Conference, so you get serious research and big-time game days at the same school.

 

2. Florida State University

Florida State University sits in Tallahassee on Florida’s oldest continuous site of higher education. The legislature chartered it in 1851, and the state-sponsored school opened in 1857. In fall 2025, about 46,200 students enrolled from all 50 states and 133 other countries, and the university admitted 25.4 percent of freshman applicants in fall 2023.

FSU offers 277 degree programs across 17 colleges and schools and is an R1 research university. It hosts the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Florida’s only national lab, and helped develop the cancer drug Taxol. The Princeton Review named it Florida’s top public university and ranked it 16th for best value in 2024. The Seminoles compete in the Atlantic Coast Conference, and a branch campus in Panama City opened in 1967.

 

3. University of Miami

The University of Miami is a private research university in Coral Gables, chartered on April 8, 1925. It enrolled 20,104 students in fall 2025, including 13,241 undergraduates, and admitted 18.5 percent of its fall 2023 freshman applicants. It is an R1 school and a member of the Association of American Universities.

Students choose from more than 350 majors and programs. The Miller School of Medicine is in Miami’s Health District, and its Bascom Palmer Eye Institute is ranked No. 1 nationally. The university spent $520 million on research in 2024, and U.S. News ranks it 64th among national universities. The Hurricanes play in the Atlantic Coast Conference, and the football team has won five national championships.

 

4. University of South Florida

The University of South Florida was established on December 18, 1956, and held its first classes in 1960. Its main campus is in Tampa, and it also has a campus in St. Petersburg. Enrollment was 49,875 in 2025-26, with students from over 145 countries. It admitted 43.9 percent of first-time freshmen in fall 2022.

USF joined the Association of American Universities in 2023 and is an R1 research university with 14 colleges and more than 245 programs. U.S. News tied it for 88th among national universities and 43rd among public universities for 2026. The Bulls compete in the American conference. With a budget of about $2.8 billion and a growing research base, USF is one of the state’s fastest-rising universities.

 

5. Florida International University

Florida International University (FIU) opened in 1972 as an upper-division school. Its main campus is in Westchester, in Miami-Dade County. Fall 2025 enrollment was 55,811, making it Florida’s third-largest university; in fall 2023, 68 percent of undergraduates were Hispanic.

FIU is an R1 research university and one of the state’s Preeminent State Research Universities, with more than 200 programs of study. U.S. News tied it for 46th among public universities in 2025, and in 2018 Diverse: Issues in Higher Education ranked it first in the country for bachelor’s degrees awarded to minority students. It admitted 58.8 percent of freshman applicants in fall 2023, and the Panthers compete in Conference USA.

 

6. University of Central Florida

The University of Central Florida is a public research university about 13 miles east of downtown Orlando. It opened in 1968 as Florida Technological University and took its current name in 1978. UCF enrolled 70,674 students in fall 2025, including 60,083 undergraduates, which gives it the second-largest on-campus student body of any public university in the country.

It offers more than 230 degree programs through 13 colleges, plus a health sciences campus at Lake Nona. Aviation Week named UCF the top provider of graduates to the aerospace and defence industry, and the adjacent Central Florida Research Park is the largest in the state. U.S. News tied it for 57th among public schools in 2025. The Knights compete in the Big 12.

 

7. University of West Florida

The University of West Florida (UWF) was established in 1963, broke ground in 1965, and held its first classes in fall 1967. The main campus covers 1,600 acres north of downtown Pensacola, with a second location in Fort Walton Beach. About 15,600 students enroll, and the university has no law or medical school, so undergraduates get the faculty’s attention.

Four colleges cover the arts and humanities, business, science and engineering, and health, along with a School of Education. U.S. News ranked UWF tied for 23rd among Regional Universities South and tied for 10th among top public schools in its 2024 to 2025 edition, and it was tied for ninth for veterans. The Argonauts compete in NCAA Division II, and the football team won the 2019 Division II national title.

 

8. Florida A&M University

Florida A&M University (FAMU) was founded on October 3, 1887, as the State Normal College for Colored Students. It is a public land-grant university in Tallahassee and Florida’s only public historically Black university. About 9,300 students were enrolled in fall 2024 across 14 schools and colleges on a roughly 420-acre campus.

FAMU offers 54 bachelor’s, 29 master’s, and 12 doctoral programs. Its College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences has extension campuses in Miami, Jacksonville, Tampa, and Crestview. U.S. News ranked FAMU first among public HBCUs in 2024. The Rattlers compete in the Southwestern Athletic Conference, and the football team won the first NCAA Division I-AA national title in 1978.

 

9. Florida Atlantic University

Florida Atlantic University (FAU) opened on September 14, 1964, with 867 students and five colleges. Its main campus is in Boca Raton, on the site of a former World War II Army airfield. About 32,200 students enrolled in fall 2025, and the main campus serves roughly 70 percent of them.

FAU has ten colleges and more than 180 programs, a 20-to-1 student-faculty ratio, and an R1 research classification. The Harriet L. Wilkes Honours College gives high-achieving students a small-college experience inside a large university. Washington Monthly ranked FAU 41st among national universities in 2024. The Owls became members of The American Conferences on July 1, 2023.

 

10. Everglades University

Everglades University began in 1990 in Fort Lauderdale as American Flyers College. Arthur and Belinda Keiser bought it in 1998, and it became Everglades University in December 2003. It is a private, not-for-profit school with its main campus in Boca Raton and branches in Orlando, Sarasota, and Miami.

About 1,500 students attend, with roughly one faculty member for every seven students. Students take one class at a time, each running about a month, and many classes meet in the evenings or on weekends. The Online Division is the largest by student population. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges has accredited it to award bachelor’s and master’s degrees since 2010.

 

11. Stetson University

Stetson University was founded in 1883 as DeLand Academy and renamed in 1889 for hat maker John B. Stetson. Located in DeLand, about halfway between Orlando and Daytona Beach, it also has campuses in Gulfport and Tampa. About 3,670 students attend, with a 10-to-1 student-to-faculty ratio, and it is described as Florida’s oldest private college.

Stetson has a College of Arts and Sciences, a School of Business Administration, a School of Music, and a College of Law, which opened in DeLand in 1900. Undergraduates choose from more than 55 majors and minors. DeLand Hall, built in 1884, is the oldest building in Florida in continuous use for higher education. The Hatters compete in NCAA Division I in the ASUN Conference.

 

12. New College of Florida

New College of Florida is the state’s public honours college, on a 144-acre bayfront campus in Sarasota that was once the Ringling estate. It opened in 1964 with 101 students and was founded in 1960. In 2026, the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee campus transferred to New College.

About 710 students were enrolled in fall 2023, the smallest in the state university system, with a student-faculty ratio of about 8 to 1. Students get written evaluations instead of letter grades, sign a contract each semester, and finish a thesis and a baccalaureate exam. The college has produced 86 Fulbright scholars. It has gone through major leadership changes since 2023, and the Mighty Banyans now compete in the NAIA.

 

13. AdventHealth University

AdventHealth University is a private health sciences university affiliated with the Seventh-day Adventist Church and the AdventHealth hospital system. It traces its roots to a 1913 nursing program at Florida Sanitarium and adopted its current name in January 2019. The main campus is in Orlando, and it opened a Tampa campus in November 2024.

It offers more than 20 programs from associate through doctoral level, and about 1,700 students are enrolled in spring 2025. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools has accredited it since 1996, and its nursing program has been accredited since 1997. The college opened a 62,000-square-foot nursing simulation center in September 2026. The U.S. Department of Education named it a Hispanic-Serving Institution in 2022.

 

14. Rollins College

Rollins College is a private, nonsectarian liberal arts college in Winter Park, near Orlando, that began classes on November 4, 1885. About 3,000 students enroll, including roughly 2,570 undergraduates, and the student-faculty ratio is about 10:1. 

U.S. News ranked Rollins first among Regional Universities South in its 2021 edition, and also first for undergraduate teaching. Chemistry Nobel winner Donald Cram graduated in 1941. The Tars compete in NCAA Division II in the Sunshine State Conference and have won 23 national championships. The water skiing teams are the only college program competing at the Division I level. The endowment was $509.2 million in 2025.

 

15. Florida Institute of Technology

The Florida Institute of Technology, known as Florida Tech, opened in Melbourne in 1958 as Brevard Engineering College to train workers for the space program. It took its current name in 1966. About 9,860 students enrolled in fall 2024, including 4,727 on the main campus and 4,762 online, and it is an R2 research university.

It has four colleges, and about half of students study in the College of Engineering and Science. Florida Tech also offers some of the country’s few aviation degrees and hosts the Indian River Lagoon Research Institute. The Panthers compete in NCAA Division II in the Sunshine State Conference, and the men’s soccer team won national titles in 1988 and 1991.

 

16. Nova Southeastern University

Nova Southeastern University (NSU) was chartered on December 4, 1964, as a graduate school with 17 students, and it adopted its current name after merging with Southeastern University of the Health Sciences in 1994. The main campus covers 314 acres in Davie. NSU enrolled about 20,900 students in fall 2023, including 7,219 undergraduates, and 21 percent studied online.

It is an R1 research university with 14 colleges and more than 150 programs in fields like law, medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, optometry, and nursing. Its College of Osteopathic Medicine, founded in 1981, was the first osteopathic medical school in the Southeast, and NSU is one of three U.S. universities offering both D.O. and M.D. programs. The Sharks compete in NCAA Division II.

 

17. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University – Worldwide

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Worldwide began in 1970 when the university opened a remote location at Fort Rucker, Alabama. It now has 108 locations in the United States and abroad, including an Asia campus in Singapore, and 88 of them are on military bases. It served more than 21,000 students in 2025-26.

Nearly 11,000 of those students were affiliated with the military. The campus offers 28 undergraduate and 26 master’s degree programs, many of which are organized into nine-week terms. It has expanded its use of virtual labs and extended-reality tools. Embry-Riddle Worldwide marked its 100,000th graduate on August 9, 2026, at a ceremony aboard the USS Midway Museum in San Diego.

 

18. South Florida State College

South Florida State College is a public college in the Florida College System, with campuses in Highlands, DeSoto, and Hardee counties. It opened as South Florida Junior College, began classes in August 1966, and adopted its current name on July 1, 2012. The 228-acre Highlands Campus sits near Avon Park between Lake Lelia and Lake Glenada.

About 5,000 students attend each year. The college offers certificates and associate degrees in more than 60 fields, plus three bachelor’s degrees, and it has transfer agreements with four-year schools. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools accredits it. Students can live in the Hotel Jacaranda, which the college bought in 1988, and the Panthers field baseball, softball, volleyball, and cross country teams.

 

19. University of North Florida

The University of North Florida (UNF) is a public research university on a 1,300-acre campus in Jacksonville. It opened its doors in fall 1972. About 16,400 students enrolled in fall 2022, and the Princeton Review lists the acceptance rate at 72 percent. UNF is classified as R2 and accredited to award bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees.

It has six colleges, including the Coggin College of Business, the Brooks College of Health, and the College of Computing, Engineering, and Construction, plus an honours college. A state-protected wildlife and bird sanctuary with nature trails and lakes sits inside the campus. The Ospreys compete in NCAA Division I in the ASUN Conference. UNF suits students who want a mid-sized public university in a big city.

 

20. Florida Gulf Coast University

Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) was established on May 3, 1991, and classes started on August 25, 1997. The campus covers about 800 acres south of Fort Myers. It enrolled 16,612 students in fall 2024, including 14,463 undergraduates, and incoming freshmen averaged a 1122 SAT score and a 4.12 high school GPA.

FGCU has eight colleges and schools, including the Marieb College of Health & Human Services, the Lutgert College of Business, and the U.A. Whitaker School of Engineering. The Princeton Review ranked it 30th for undergraduate entrepreneurship in 2020. The Eagles compete in the ASUN Conference, and the men’s basketball team reached the Sweet 16 in the 2013 NCAA tournament. Aysegul Timur became president in July 2023.

 

21. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University – Daytona Beach

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University traces back to 1925, when T. Higbee Embry and John Paul Riddle started an aircraft dealership in Cincinnati. It moved to Daytona Beach in 1965 and became a university in 1970. The 185-acre Daytona Beach campus sits next to Daytona Beach International Airport, and roughly 8,000 students attend.

Aeronautical science and aerospace engineering are the most popular majors. U.S. News ranked its aerospace undergraduate program eighth in 2023, and the campus holds the world’s largest collection of NASA and NACA documents at the Jack R. Hunt Memorial Library. The Boeing Center for Aviation & Aerospace Safety opened in January 2024 after a $5.1 million gift. The Eagles compete in NCAA Division II with 22 varsity sports.

 

22. Keiser University – Fort Lauderdale

Keiser University started in Fort Lauderdale in 1977 as the Keiser School, a career college founded by Arthur Keiser and his mother, Evelyn. It became Keiser University in 2006 and has been nonprofit since 2011. The flagship residential campus is in West Palm Beach, and the university has about 17 other Florida locations.

Keiser enrolled 21,306 students in fall 2024, and it offers undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs in person and online. In 2016, it opened the first College of Chiropractic Medicine in South Florida. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools accredits it. The Seahawks compete in the NAIA, and the football team won the 2023 NAIA national championship.

 

23. Florida Gateway College

Florida Gateway College is a public state college in Lake City. It opened in 1947 as the Columbia Forestry School, and it became Florida Gateway College in 2010. The 132-acre campus has satellite centers in Macclenny, Cross City, and Bell and serves five counties: Baker, Columbia, Dixie, Gilchrist, and Union.

In 2017 to 2018, enrollment was 4,958, including 1,203 dual-enrollment students. Most students earn an Associate of Arts for transfer and choose from 44 majors. Criminal justice, public safety, nursing, and emergency medical technology are popular, and the nursing program offers LPN, RN, and bridge tracks. Athletics resumed in 2017, and the softball team has won eight NJCAA championships.

 

24. Florida College

Florida College is a small private college in Temple Terrace, about 20 minutes northeast of Tampa, on a 20-acre campus along the Hillsborough River. It opened in 1946 as Florida Christian College with 100 students. In 2023 to 2024, it had 591 students from 33 states, Puerto Rico, and 12 countries.

The student-faculty ratio is 11 to 1, and the college offers 17 bachelor’s degrees in areas like biblical studies, business, education, and music, plus an Associate of Arts. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools first granted it full accreditation in 1954 and most recently reaffirmed it in June 2017. Its staff and most of its students come from non-institutional Churches of Christ. The Falcons compete in the NAIA.

 

25. Jacksonville University

Jacksonville University was founded in 1934 as a two-year college and became Jacksonville University in 1958. It is a private school with 2,946 undergraduates and 1,301 graduate students as of fall 2024. About 57.3 percent of 2024 applicants were admitted, and test scores are optional.

It has five colleges, including the Brooks Rehabilitation College of Healthcare Sciences, which offers nursing from a bachelor’s through a Doctor of Nursing Practice, and a College of Law that opened in 2022. Aviation management is one of the top majors, and the JU Flight Team competes nationally. U.S. News tied JU for 41st among Regional Universities South in 2025. The Dolphins play in the ASUN Conference.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the best colleges in Florida in 2027?

The University of Florida, Florida State University, the University of Miami, the University of South Florida, and Florida International University lead this University Magazine list for 2027.

Which Florida university has the most students?

The University of Central Florida has the most students, with 70,674 in fall 2025. Florida International University had 55,811, and the University of Florida had 54,814 in fall 2023.

Which Florida colleges are best for aviation and aerospace?

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach and its Worldwide campus, the Florida Institute of Technology, and Jacksonville University all offer aviation programs. UCF is the top provider of graduates to the aerospace industry.

Is there a historically Black university in Florida?

Yes. Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, founded in 1887, is Florida’s only public historically Black university.

Which Florida colleges are best if I want a small school?

New College of Florida had about 710 students in fall 2023, Rollins College about 3,000, Stetson University about 3,670, and Florida College about 590.

Top 25 Best Colleges in Florida 2027: Ranked List

1. University of Florida
2. Florida State University
3. University of Miami
4. University of South Florida
5. Florida International University
6. University of Central Florida
7. University of West Florida
8. Florida A&M University
9. Florida Atlantic University
10. Everglades University
11. Stetson University
12. New College of Florida
13. AdventHealth University
14. Rollins College
15. Florida Institute of Technology
16. Nova Southeastern University
17. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University – Worldwide
18. South Florida State College
19. University of North Florida
20. Florida Gulf Coast University
21. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University – Daytona Beach
22. Keiser University – Fort Lauderdale
23. Florida Gateway College
24. Florida College
25. Jacksonville University

 

 

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