It’s only fall, but high school seniors in Florida need to lock down their college choices. And if you’re a parent, you know that sending your child to an in state school is going to cost a lot less. But you’re also looking for the best public universities for your kid. Both in and outside of Florida. US News did the legwork and ranked the top public colleges going into the 2024 school year. Their rankings took into consideration a lot of data including graduation rates, first year retention rates, and graduate performance. On the money side they also looked into borrower debt and the likeliness that one of their grads will out earn someone with only a high school diploma. You can find the full methodology here. One Florida school cracked the top 10.
Coming in at number 6 on the list of Best Public Universities is the University of Florida.
The University of Florida has an enrollment of 34,552 on a 2,000 acre campus. It comes in at number 6 on the Top Public Universities list and number 28 in national Universities based on similar criteria.
If UF is on your list, note the deadline for enrollment is March 1st and that only 23% of applicants are accepted. In state tuition fees are $6,381 and room and board is another $11,500. If you make it in, your odds are good. UF has a 72% graduation rate and the top major is engineering.
Overall, as a Florida resident, UF looks like a great choice, as highlighted by this study. The next public university on this list is Florida State University, which comes in at number 23. Florida Gulf Coast University comes in at number 162.
Let’s take a look at the rest of the top 10, and how much it would cost to send your kid to one of these out of state schools.
