Florida Universities and Colleges for Bright Futures - Cost Analysis

I created this list of colleges and universities in Florida when I learned about Bright Futures and was trying to see if my kids could afford to win the scholarship. Living on-campus or paying local rent/transportation is not as cheap as you might imagine, and since I created this analysis in May of 2021, rent has probably gone up in most places. That said, we can assume rent has gone up proportionally, and the affordability should still be similar as a comparison. 

Rankings were also from 2020-2021. These don't tend to change drastically, but it's always possible. I went from top-ranked to lowest-ranked, since my kids were interested in the "best" colleges and universities in Florida. I'm sure most of them are fine, and if it makes sense based on rent or sports or major fields of study, I think my kids can do well at any of the campuses. 

For us in Jacksonville, room and board would be free for UNF or using Bright Futures to get two years at FSCJ. However, FSCJ is unranked. Also, my kids claim they want the college experience. Maybe your kids prefer the college experience over free rent at home. It's worth seeing what that will mean for their student loans. I don't think there will be another loan bailout for kids entering college now, so it's important to know how to manage costs. That's why I also provide a handy cost-estimator at the start of the college list. If you share rent costs with other people or choose a dorm, you can do it all a little cheaper. Even at the low $500 a month rent, however (no food), "free" Florida college will cost $24,000. Add $3,000 a year for food alone, and you're looking at $36,000 college costs if you're very budget-minded (assuming your parents were offering free room and board for comparison). Dorm estimates do include room and board, but only Gainesville was slightly under $15,000 per year as of 2021. 

Florida colleges and universities

Rankings via US News and World Report 

Rent using Rentcafe or *Zumper, Apartments.com, or other. Rentcafe may use average for all rent rather than 1 bedroom or studio like some of the others, 

Rent Cost Estimator

500/month x 12 months x 4 years = 24,000

1000/month x 12 months x 4 years = 48,000 

1500/month x 12 months x 4 years = 72,000

Dorm (room, board, books, and expenses - collegefactual.com)

10000/yr x 4 years = 40,000 ; 15,000/yr x 4 years = 60,000

University of Florida

Gainesville

Ranking 30

1,325/mo local rent

14,830 / yr on-campus

Florida State University

Tallahassee

Ranking 58

1,288/mo local rent

16,790 / yr on-campus

University of South Florida

Tampa

Ranking 103

1,432/mo local rent

17,036 / yr on-campus

University of Central Florida

Orlando

Ranking 160

1,432/mo local rent

16,180/ yr on-campus

Florida International University

Miami

Ranking 187

1,754/mo local rent

17,300/ yr on-campus

Florida A&M University

Tallahassee

Ranking 241

1,288/mo local rent

17,648/ yr on-campus

Florida Atlantic University

Boca Raton

Ranking 272

2,127/mo local rent

20,580/ yr on-campus

University of North Florida

Jacksonville

Ranking 272

1,173/mo local rent

New College of Florida

Sarasota

Ranking 82 in colleges

1,473/mo local rent

Pensacola State College

Pensacola

Ranking 30 regional colleges s

1,081/mo local rent

South Florida State College

Avon Park

Ranking 37 regional colleges s

662*/mo local rent

University of West Florida

Pensacola

Ranking 36 regional university s

1,081/mo local rent

Florida Gulf Coast University

Ft. Myers

Ranking 68 regional university s

1,333/mo local rent

St. Petersburg College

St. Petersburg

Ranking 68 regional colleges s

1,443/mo local rent

Seminole State College of Florida

Sanford

Ranking 70-91 regional colleges s

1,223/mo local rent

Broward College

Ft. Lauderdale

Unranked

2,056/mo local rent

Chipola College

Marianna

Unranked

550*/mo local rent

College of Central Florida

Ocala

Unranked

1,167/mo local rent

Daytona State College

Daytona Beach

Unranked

1,187/mo local rent

Eastern Florida State College

Cocoa 

Unranked

853/mo local rent

Florida Gateway College

Lake City

Unranked

699*/mo local rent

Florida Keys Community College

Key West

Unranked

1,600*/mo local rent

Florida Polytechnic University

Lakeland

Unranked

1,164/mo local rent

Florida SouthWestern State College

Ft. Myers

Unranked

1,333/mo local rent

Florida State College--Jacksonville

Jax

Unranked

1,173/mo local rent

Gulf Coast State College

Panama City

Unranked

1,126/mo local rent

Indian River State College

Ft. Pierce

Unranked

941*/mo local rent

Lake-Sumter State College

Leesburg

Unranked

958/mo local rent

Miami Dade College

Miami

Unranked

1,754/mo local rent

North Florida Community College

Madison

Unranked

725*/mo local rent

Northwest Florida State College

Niceville

Unranked

993/mo local rent

Palm Beach State College

Palm Beach Gardens

Unranked

2,002/mo local rent

Pasco-Hernando State College

New Port Richey

Unranked

1,062/mo local rent

Polk State College

Winter Haven

Unranked

1,052/mo local rent

Saint Johns River State College

Palatka

Unranked

933/mo local rent

Santa Fe College

Gainesville

Unranked

1,325/mo local rent

State College of Florida--Manatee-Sarasota

Bradenton, Venice, Lakewood Ranch

Unranked

1,342/mo local rent

Tallahassee Community College

Tallahassee

Unranked

1,288/mo local rent

Valencia College

Orlando

Unranked

1,432/mo local rent

Coolest Street in Jacksonville

I get news and weather updates from Boston once in a while. I'm not sure why. Anyhow, a recent story from Bean Town says that one of its iconic streets has been named one of the 33 coolest streets in the world. The travel website TimeOut is so cool that it chose 33 instead of 25 or 50. So Newbury Street in Boston is cool. It has the best new restaurants, funkiest speakeasies and chic-est boutique hotels in Boston. But what about Jacksonville? What's our coolest street?

San Marco Boulevard, San Marco

Old-timey shops and whatnot, walkable. Nice. Pretty.

Park Street, Riverside

Bars and nightlife. Where the cool kids go to be seen, at least the ones who maybe also think they are intellectuals. 

St. Johns Avenue, Avondale

Fancy area with neat shops and restaurants.

Bay Street

So maybe a couple of bars and drunk people wandering after a game or concert.

1st Street,  The Beaches

So there's a big gap between Atlantic Beach and Jacksonville Beach along 1st Street, but it's bike-able. AB Town Center on Atlantic is a neat little area. Jacksonville Beach is perfect for trust-fund kids out carousing. And the beach is a few steps away.

Town Center Parkway

Ha ha ha ha ha! The St. Johns Town Center is so frustratingly horribly planned that it's amazing to me that it has remained so popular. All the fancy stores you could want packaged in an un-walkable, nearly un-driveable outdoor mall. You can sit in traffic on Town Center Parkway and see most of the stores, wishing you had the kind of job that could afford you the time and that Audi S8 parked at Nordstrom's during normal work hours for the rest of us. 

Vermanth Road

I was told by a friend that Vermanth Road in Arlington is the only so-named street in the United States. If that's true, then only about 65 households live on a street by that name, and that's pretty cool. That said, it's just a normal few blocks in Arlington, so it may not seem that cool unless you know how unique it is.

Moncrief

I once heard someone from Jacksonville talking to someone from Atlanta, and the guy from Atlanta said something about Moncrief, so the dude from Jacksonville was like, "You know Moncrief?" And the cat from Atlanta was all, "People all over know about Moncrief." I guess that's cool? But I wouldn't really suggest you go and check it out. Just ask someone.