Many post-secondary education opportunities abound in Florida, including a number of community colleges. With tuition prices rising in the state’s public universities, Florida community colleges are becoming more and more popular for the great bargain they truly are. Offering dozens of Associate in Arts and Associate in Science degrees, as well as certificates and several other educational programs, Florida community colleges make affordable alternatives to costlier universities and private colleges.
Furthermore, for those who do intend to earn a Bachelor’s degree from a university, Florida community colleges offer the first two years of general requirements–the same ones offered at a state university–for community college tuition prices. Obtaining the first half of a four-year-degree program through community college credits then transferring to a university for the remaining two years can save a student potentially thousands of dollars. And because of laws that allow for easy transfer of A.A.-holding students to state universities, there are few headaches when it comes time to transfer those community college credits to a state university. There are 28 Florida community colleges, and while each offers unique opportunities, this list below includes 10 which are especially noteworthy institutions.
Daytona Beach College
P.O. Box 2811
Daytona Beach, Florida 32120-2811
(386) 506-3000
Located near the beautiful beaches of Florida’s Atlantic coast, Daytona Beach Community College has seven campuses and offers Bachelors degrees, Associate degrees, and Technical degrees in a variety of fields and is known for offering opportunities to those wanting to obtain a high-school diploma, needing evening, summer, or independent-study courses, and English as a Second Language courses.
Edison College
P. O. Box 60210
Fort Myers, Florida, 33906-6210
(239) 489-9300
With four campuses in the Southwest Florida Gulf coast city of Fort Meyers, Edison College offers Bachelors degrees, Associates degrees, and certificates with courses both on campus and via its distance learning program. Edison College offers several A.S. degrees in medical fields and was ranked 20th in the nation for its A.S. nursing program.
Florida Community College at Jacksonville
501 West State Street
Jacksonville, Florida, 32202-4076
(904) 632-3000
Jacksonville, located in northeastern Florida only miles south of the Georgia border, is the home of Florida Community College at Jacksonville, which has campuses and learning centers conveniently located for students seeking A.A. A.S. and A.A.S. degrees, certificates, and a small but growing number of Bachelors degrees. On-campus and distance learning courses are offered. Florida Community College at Jacksonville has a particularly large and diverse student body, consisted of more than 64,000 people from roughly 120 nations during 2005-2006.
Hillsborough Community College
P.O. Box 31227
Tampa, Florida 33631-3127
(813) 253-7000
Hillsborough Community College, right across the street from the stadium where the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers play, has six campuses located throughout Tampa. Hillsborough Community College offers several A.A. and A.S. degree programs, and offers many programs in the sciences and medical fields such as computers and internet technology, environmental sciences, nursing, radiology, and pharmacy. Hillsborough Community College has a growing catalog of distance-learning courses, and has numerous weekend and evening course offerings.
Miami Dade College
300 N. E. Second Avenue
Miami, Florida, 33132-2297
(305) 237-3316
Located in the vibrant tourist mecca of Miami, Miami Dade College is a massive community college with over 160,000 students over eight campuses and dozens of degree programs leading to Associates degrees, Bachelors degrees, technical degrees and certificates. Fitting for its location in a city with a truly international identity, when Miami Dade College opened in the 1960s as Dade County Junior College, the school became Florida’s first racially integrated junior college. Today, as the school has grown and changed with society, so it has, too, with learning technology; Miami Dade College offers many distance learning courses.
Pasco-Hernando Community College
10230 Ridge Road
New Port Richey, Florida, 34654-5199
(727) 847-2727
Pasco-Hernando Community College is conveniently located in two counties popularly referred to as Tampa’s bedroom communities—the far-flung towns north of Tampa. Pasco and Hernando counties have been experiencing massive population booms since the 1980s, when Tampa’s suburbs crept north. Pasco-Hernando Community College is the newest addition to Florida’s community college system and serves students who want an opportunity for higher education without having to commute dozens of miles south to the community college campuses located in Hillsborough and Pinellas county, at the heart of Tampa Bay. Pasco-Hernando Community College offers A.A. and A.S. programs as well as a G.E.D. preparedness program. With four campuses, day and evening courses, and a distance-learning program, Pasco-Hernando Community College can be a convenient option for anybody seeking a college degree.
Pensacola Junior College
1000 College Boulevard
Pensacola, Florida, 32504-8898
(850) 484-1000
Set in the extreme western Florida Panhandle near the Alabama border, Pensacola Junior College has been serving students since 1948 and offers a broad range of A.A., A.S., A.A.S. degrees and certificates—over 100 majors and study focuses in all, offered on five campuses. Pensacola Junior College also offers Adult Basic Education courses and Continuing Education courses.
St. Petersburg College
P.O. Box 13489
St. Petersburg, Florida, 33733-3489
(727) 341-3600
St. Petersburg College has ten campuses throughout the Gulf coast county of Pinellas, just twenty minutes west of Tampa. St. Petersburg College, opened in 1927 and was for decades a two-year college until 2001, when it became the first Florida community college to offer Bachelor’s degrees, which now number 20-programs including banking, nursing, paralegal, veterinarian technology. St. Petersburg College also offers A.A. and A.S. degrees as well as certificates, and has students throughout the U.S. and from all over the world enrolled in the school’s extensive distance-learning program.
Tallahassee Community College
444 Appleyard Drive
Tallahassee, Florida, 32304-2895
(850) 201-6200
Located in Florida’s capital city, Tallahasse Community College is recognized and honored for its standing as among Community College Week’s Top 100 schools in the number of Associates Degrees awarded, and was ranked 15th in the nation in terms of the number of college degrees awarded to blacks. Tallahassee Community College also holds the top spot in the state for the highest percentage (75%) of Associate degree holders who transfer to a university within one year. And Tallahassee Community College makes it convenient for its students to earn a Bachelor’s degree; the school’s relationship with Flagler College, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Barry University and St. Leo University allows Tallahassee Community College students to earn Bachelor’s degrees while at the two-year school’s campus.
Valencia Community College
P. O. Box 3028
Orlando, Florida 32802-3028
(407) 299-5000
Amid the bustle and tourist attractions that make up Orlando is Valencia Community College, with over 50,000 students on the school’s four campuses and two learning centers. Valencia Community College has grown to become the state’s third largest community college and offers, along with an array of degree programs, a plethora of career training and educational partnerships with hundreds of corporations and businesses in the dynamic and diverse Orlando area and beyond.
Resources:
http://www.valenciacc.edu/aboutus/whoweare/history.cfm
http://www.fldoe.org/cc/colleges.asp
http://www.spcollege.edu/webcentral/welcome/facts.htm
http://www.dbcc.cc.fl.us/12_current.htm#10
http://www.edison.edu/
http://www.fccj.cc.fl.us/friends/index.html
http://www.mdc.edu/main/about/
http://www.phcc.edu/about/
http://www.pjc.edu/visitors/aboutPJC/PJCBrief.aspx
http://www.tcc.fl.edu/about_tcc
