New College of Florida

When I think of a state college, I generally think of a medium to very large college with big lecture halls.  New College of Florida (NCF), however, is an honors state college with only 800 students and an average class size of 18. The liberal arts and sciences college is on the water, in Sarasota.

Not only, is the college unusual in its size, but it is unusual in its academics.  There are no grades.  All students do independent research for three years  in the January term and all complete a senior project or write a thesis which they defend before a faculty committee. In lieu of grades, there is a written narrative for each class taken. Each semester students prepare a contract of work that they negotiate with heir advisor, a professor.  About 80% of graduates go on to graduate school.

A student who would fit in here is a liberal student who can drive their own education.  There is no core curriculum.  Everyone must take 1 course in humanities, 1 course in social sciences, 1 course in natural sciences and a total of 8 liberal arts course.  On the Thursday and Friday before a new semester’s registration, professors give 15-minute snippets of their classes, which students can take before registering.  Tutorials, which are self-designed classes are popular.  Professors generally teach 2 classes and may support up to 5 or 6 tutorials.  The college offers about 300 classes per year.

The cost for out of state students isn't too bad either.  While the Cost of Attendance is $43K per year, every out-of-state student who gets accepted gets a minimum of a $15K merit scholarship making the price comparable to in-state fees for Rutgers.  Currently, about 20% of students are from outside of Florida and they are trying to increase this percentage.  NCF is a member of the National Student Exchange so you can attend another college in the US or abroad, and pay the NCF tuition.

This is a residential college which can accommodate up to 640 students with on-campus housing.  The rest of the student body lives locally.  There are 60-80 clubs and organizations and students can start their own club or organization.  While there are intramural and club sports, there are no NCAA sports teams.  Sailing is the only intercollegiate team.  There is no Greek life at NCF.  The college accepts the Common App and has rolling admissions with a priority deadline of November 1.