College Town -C4 partnership arrives with a bang.

Sarasota has strived to be a college town, but with students sticking to their own campuses, the presence of major academic institutions can get forgotten once you wonder off grounds. A newly formed consortium of schools could change the profile of higher education both locally and in terms of national and international prestige. Leadership for major schools in the region—Ringling College of Art and Design, University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee, New College of Florida and State College of Florida Manatee-Sarasota—met informally over the past two years and launched trial efforts at endeavors like cross-registration. In December, three major foundations announced the funding for a coordinator for the Consortium of Colleges on the Creative Coast, or C4, and with one grand gesture may have altered the educational landscape of Southwest Florida forever more.