• Students are not required to earn a minimum high school GPA or SAT/ACT score in order to be admitted.
• The Florida College System offers career-related certificates and two-year associate degrees that prepare students to transfer to a bachelor’s degree program or to enter jobs requiring specific skills.
• Many also offer baccalaureate degrees in high-demand fields.
• Florida College System institutions have an open-door policy. This means that students who have earned a standard high school diploma, have earned a high school equivalency diploma, or have demonstrated success in postsecondary coursework will be admitted to an associate degree program.
• Students earning a College Placement Test-Eligible Certificate of Completion will be admitted to an associate degree program upon completing a college placement test but are not eligible for federal financial aid.
• Florida’s 28 public colleges are open-access institutions. They offer high school general equivalency diploma (GED®) preparation, adult basic education, as well as certificate, associate and bachelor’s degree programs.
• Certificate and degree programs offered at Florida College System institutions range from auto mechanics to nursing to the Associate in Arts (AA) degree, which guarantees transfer to Florida’s public colleges and universities.
• Many colleges now offer baccalaureate degrees in areas that meet local workforce needs such as nursing, teaching, management and technology.
• Students who plan to pursue an associate or baccalaureate degree will need to earn a standard high school diploma or high school equivalency diploma.
• While some colleges within the system have dropped “community” from their name and others have added “state,” all colleges retain their open-door admissions policy for students seeking an associate degree.
• The Florida College System includes 28 colleges with 68 campuses and approximately 2,000 other service delivery centers.

View the listing of Florida College System Institutions

SUS of Florida is comprised of 12 universities, some with branch campuses and centers in different areas of the state. The SUS is committed to providing educational opportunities of the highest quality for the state’s residents. All 12 public universities offer baccalaureate and graduate degrees, although two offer limited advanced degree offerings.

SUS Minimum Admissions Requirements

Admission into Florida’s public universities is competitive. Prospective students should complete a rigorous curriculum in high school and apply to more than one university to increase their chance for acceptance.

To qualify to enter one of Florida’s public universities, a first time-in-college student must meet the following minimum requirements:

• High school graduation with a standard diploma
• Admission test scores
• 16 credits of college preparatory academic courses – see Bright Futures requirements (FAS and FMS)
• 2 approved electives

The university calculates the high school GPA using a 4.0 scale from grades earned in high school academic core courses (additional weights may be assigned for grades in AP, dual enrollment, honors, IB diploma program, AICE program, and other advanced courses).

A SUS Matrix is released each year from the Board of Governors. This matrix will give students a snapshot of past enrollment history for the university, including mean GPA and test scores of admitted students. 

View the complete listing of Florida universities!

HBCUs as institutions of higher education and learning, have provided a haven of opportunities for Black educators, students, and graduates to achieve success, and impact lives throughout the United States and internationally. These institutions have rich traditions and cultures. Students who attend these schools join the legacy and a network of many notable graduates. 

Technical Colleges offer certifications or licenses in specialized programs and typically take two years or less to finish. They prepare students for the specific career that they want, so students would only take classes related to their career interest.

A Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) is defined as an institution of higher education that:

• is an eligible institution; and has an enrollment of undergraduate full-time equivalent students that is at least 25 percent Hispanic students

Admission to these schools is highly competitive; to be accepted to these universities, students have to achieve standards that are much higher than the ones at any average public university. Before deciding to enter into the Ivy League elite education, you should check the requirements that these schools tend to demand, including test scores (SAT, GRE, LSAT), GPA, recommendations, extra-curricular activities, and other academic achievements. If you aspire to run a major corporation, hold public office in government, or have a strong advantage in research and innovation, these schools have historically been a breeding-ground for accomplished and successful students