Located in Sarasota, New College of Florida has educated intellectually curious students for lives of great achievement since its founding in 1960. As the State of Florida’s designated honors college, New College provides an exceptional undergraduate education that transforms students’ intellectual curiosity into personal accomplishment. New College offers nearly 40 areas of concentration for undergraduates and a master’s degree program in Data Science. We have earned many accolades and distinctions, among them a place in Loren Pope’s book, “Colleges That Change Lives,” and consistently high national rankings by the leading arbiters of higher education.
New College is located in northern Sarasota County, near the Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport and just one hour south of Tampa, and 10 minutes by bus or bicycle from downtown Sarasota, which Money magazine named one of the country’s “best places to live.”
Nearby cultural and recreational resources abound, including the John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art, located next door to campus, and the white sand beaches of Siesta Key, rated as America’s Best Beach for 2011 by Dr. Beach.
The 110-acre campus blends classic landmark buildings with modern facilities. New College’s visionary master plan incorporates state-of-the-art environmental design into campus architecture and landscaping.
The main Bayfront campus lies along the Gulf of Mexico on the former estate of circus magnate Charles Ringling. Enter through the iconic Ringling arch and stroll down canopied Dort Promenade all the way to College and Cook Halls, connected by a colonnade opening onto a vast lawn and Sarasota Bay, a favorite gathering spots for yoga and sunsets.
Across Tamiami Trail (U.S. 41) and linked by overhead pedestrian bridge is the Pei Campus, hub of student and residential life and home to five “green” residence halls and a student union with its own Black Box Theater.
The Caples campus, home to the Caples Fine Arts Complex and the Environmental Studies program, is located on Bay Shore Road just south of the Ringling Museum. Behind the Caples Mansion and right on the bay is the New College sailing program.
Our newest first-class facilities include a first-floor renovation of the Jane Bancroft Cook Library (2018), major addition to the Heiser Natural Sciences Center Complex (2017) with teaching and research labs for chemistry, biology, computational science, physics and math; a dedicated Academic Center and Koski Plaza incorporating sustainable features (2011); a Public Archaeology Lab (2010) for processing and interpreting artifacts, preparing archaeological site reports, and storing excavated find; and the Pritzker Marine Biology Research Center (2001) with seven research labs and over 100 aquariums.