Florida College — Admission Snapshot 2026
A complete at-a-glance picture of every metric that matters for your 2026 application
Florida College, established in 1946, is a small Christian liberal arts college in Temple Terrace affiliated with the Churches of Christ. Known for its biblical studies and humanities programs, the college maintains a 10:1 student-faculty ratio and requires daily chapel attendance. The picturesque 48-acre campus features Mediterranean-style architecture and a strong emphasis on traditional values.
Florida College offers unique programs like Greek Testament studies alongside business and education degrees, all taught from a Christian worldview. The tight-knit community fosters spiritual growth through mission trips, service projects, and a distinctive 'Household' mentorship program connecting students with local families.
Florida College Acceptance Rate
Florida College takes a broad view of applicants, admitting about 66.5% each year.
What Florida College Admissions Looks For
- Whole-Person Review: Personal circumstances and career goals are weighed alongside grades.
- Flexible on GPA: Strong extracurriculars or work experience can offset an average transcript.
Selectivity at a Glance
Somewhat Selective
Recommended Academic Profile
Source: IPEDS & College Scorecard (Nov 2025).
Florida College Application Deadlines & Admission Dates 2026
Florida College follows a Rolling Admissions policy, meaning applications are reviewed as they arrive and there is no single fixed deadline, though the priority deadline of March 15 is recommended for the best chances of admission and financial aid.
Key Admission Dates
⏳ 220 days left — Rolling (Priority)Florida College reviews applications continuously throughout the year. Seats and scholarships are awarded on a first-come, first-served basis, so applying early gives you a significant advantage for both admission and financial aid.
Deadlines are verified from official institutional sources but may change each cycle. Always confirm final dates on the official website.
Florida College GPA Requirement
The average GPA of admitted students at Florida College is 3.28. That makes admissions here competitive, but not extremely selective. Most admitted students carry a mix of A's and B's.
In the 2.98–3.28 range, a high SAT or ACT score still carries real weight.
Most schools report GPA on a weighted or unweighted 4.0 scale differently. For an unweighted profile like this, students with AP/IB coursework typically carry a weighted GPA of 3.48–3.68.Florida College GPA & Admission Outlook
Assessment: Holistic review is critical for admission.
Recommended Strategy: Requires Contextual Factors (Leadership, hardship, or talent).
Where your GPA falls in this range shapes what the rest of your application needs to do:
Evaluation Metrics That Matter Here
- SAT/ACT required (not test-optional); no Common App - applications go directly through floridacollege.edu; rolling admissions; August 1 fall deadline; March 15 priority deadline for housing placements; acceptance rate approximately 66?72% (BigFuture 66%, Niche 70%, CampusGuide 72%).
- Daily chapel attendance required (weekday mornings); daily Bible classes required for all students; conduct code prohibits alcohol, smoking, and dancing on or off campus throughout enrollment including breaks; all unmarried students under 23 required to live on campus unless commuting from family.
- All faculty and board members required to be active members in a church of Christ (non-institutional, Restoration Movement); 100% Christian faculty; Common Reading program - all students and faculty read same book over summer; located on Hillsborough River, Temple Terrace, FL; 8 miles from Tampa.
- ~728 students (77% full-time); 13:1 student-faculty ratio; tuition $20,326/year; 94% of students receive scholarships or financial aid; six-year graduation rate ~54%; 77% first-year retention; SACSCOC accredited.
- Rigor Over Raw Number: A slightly lower GPA (say 3.8) paired with multiple AP or IB courses often outweighs a flat 4.0 from a standard curriculum.
- Trajectory Matters: A lower start in 9th or 10th grade, followed by a clear upward trend senior year, reads as academic resilience rather than a weakness.
Data verified via IPEDS, College Scorecard (Nov 2025) and the Common Data Set (CDS). Expert Review led by Sohaib Khan and Dr. Waseem.
Check Your Admission Chances at Florida College
Admission Chance Predictor
Real-Time Sensitive Analysis — based on Florida College's verified institutional data
Adjust the sliders to see how every decimal point affects your outcome.
✅ Verified Data: Institutional records for 2026.
Calculated via College Portal's Human-Intelligence (HI) Methodology & Editorial Standards. Verified by Sohaib Ahmad Khan.
Florida College Test Requirements
Standardized scores still matter here: aim for the middle 50% range of the 2026 admitted class below, and if Florida College is test-optional, a high score submitted voluntarily still helps with merit scholarships.
Can I Get Into Florida College Without SAT or ACT?
Florida College Average SAT Score: 1068
The average SAT score of admitted students at Florida College is 1068 on the 1600-point scale.
SAT Competitiveness
This average is on the lower end nationally, making a strong score here a genuine advantage.
If your score is below 950, retaking the SAT is strongly recommended to improve your chances at Florida College. Retaking multiple times is completely normal. Most competitive applicants sit for it two or three times. There's no official limit on attempts.
SAT Scores Breakdown by Sections
| Section | Average | 25th Percentile | 75th Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| SAT Math | 540 | 470 | 610 |
| SAT Reading | 560 | 480 | 640 |
| SAT Composite | 1068 | 950 | 1250 |
Below 950, you're behind most admitted students; at 1250 or above, you're ahead of 75% of them. (25th/75th percentile = the score below which that share of admitted students fall.)
View list of all colleges with average SAT score of 1050
Can I get into Florida College with a 1250 SAT?
A 1250 SAT puts you ahead of most of Florida College's admitted class, but admissions still weighs GPA, course rigor, and essays alongside it. A strong score opens the door; the rest of your profile decides what happens next.
Florida College ACT Requirements
The average ACT score at Florida College is 19.
ACT Competitiveness
This average is slightly below the national ACT mean.
ACT Scores Breakdown by Sections
| Section | Average | 25th Percentile | 75th Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| ACT Math | 17 | 15 | 19 |
| ACT English | 18 | 15 | 20 |
| ACT Composite | 19 | 17 | 20 |
Can I get into Florida College with a 20 ACT?
A 20 ACT puts you ahead of 75% of Florida College's admitted students. That's a strong position, though the ACT is only one benchmark among several that admissions weighs.
Unlike the SAT, the ACT scores four separate sections: English, Math, Reading, and Science, each on a 1–36 scale. A noticeably weak section, especially Science at STEM-focused schools, stands out to reviewers, so it's worth checking your section breakdown for outliers before applying.
Your ACT score clears the first filter, but GPA, course rigor, extracurricular depth, recommendations, and essays are what carry an application the rest of the way at Florida College.
Your 2026 Admissions Roadmap for Florida College
Accessible Strategy: Academic Foundation
Florida College is accessible to students who show core competency. Focus on proving readiness for college-level work and locking in financial aid.
Florida College's behavioral expectations are not limited to the campus or to the academic year. Students are prohibited from drinking alcohol, smoking, and dancing on or off campus throughout their enrollment - including during breaks and summers. All unmarried students under 23 are required to live on campus unless they commute from family. Daily chapel attendance (weekday mornings) is required. All board members and all faculty are required to be active members in a church of Christ. These are not aspirational guidelines - they are formal conditions of enrollment. Students who share the non-institutional Churches of Christ tradition and embrace this framework thrive here. Students who underestimate the scope of these commitments consistently find the environment more structured than they expected. Read the student handbook, not the marketing page, before applying.
Unlike the majority of small private colleges in this dataset, Florida College requires SAT or ACT scores for admission. Applications go directly through the college's own portal - not through Common App. The typical admitted score range is approximately 980?1200 SAT / 20?27 ACT. Rolling admissions with an August 1 fall deadline; the March 15 priority deadline matters specifically for housing, which fills quickly at this small campus and is mandatory for unmarried students under 23. Submit your application and housing deposit simultaneously if possible - at a school of ~728 students with limited on-campus housing, the gap between "admitted" and "housed" can close faster than students expect.
Every Florida College student takes daily Bible classes - this is a required academic component, not a chapel substitute. The courses are taught with the same academic rigor as any other discipline, and the biblical perspective is integrated across all subject areas. For students who are serious about studying Scripture at a college-level intellectual depth and want that framework applied to their major field - whether business, education, communication, or music - this integration is the core academic value proposition of Florida College. Students who treat the Bible requirement as a box to check rather than an intellectual engagement consistently report the lowest satisfaction with the academic culture here.
Florida College's 119-acre campus sits on the Hillsborough River in Temple Terrace, eight miles from Tampa - which means students are within reach of one of the Southeast's largest metro economies, a major healthcare system (Tampa General, AdventHealth), Busch Gardens, Florida's arts infrastructure, and Tampa International Airport. For students in education (local school district placements for student teaching) and business (Tampa Bay area employers), the geographic access is a genuine career asset that the small-campus feel of Temple Terrace might obscure. 94% of students receive aid, and with tuition at $20,326/year, the net price can land significantly below regional competitors while still providing Tampa-area internship and employment access.
Florida College is institutionally structured around non-institutional Churches of Christ - a specific branch of the Restoration Movement that emphasizes congregational independence from any organizational hierarchy. All faculty and board members are required to be active members in a church of Christ. Students from other evangelical, broadly Christian, or non-Christian traditions are admitted, but the campus culture, chapel programming, and biblical instruction are explicitly shaped by this tradition. Students who arrive without familiarity with non-institutional Churches of Christ sometimes find the theological specificity of campus life - in chapel, in Bible classes, and in social norms - more distinctive than a generic "Christian college" description would suggest. Research the tradition, not just the school, before applying.
Florida College Profile
Is a Florida College Degree Worth It?
Whether Florida College is worth it depends less on its reputation and more on your program choice, financial aid package, and career goals. Here's the data to weigh it against.
The average household income among admitted students is $63,900, with a graduate unemployment rate of 3.11%.
How much does a degree from Florida College Cost?
The sticker price is $32,188/year, but the average net price students actually pay, after Pell and federal grants, is typically much lower.
20.9% of students receive a Pell Grant and 44.9% take federal loans at Florida College. File your FAFSA early and list Florida College as a choice to be considered for both.
How much does a Florida College Graduate earn?
Median earnings 10 years after enrollment (roughly 4–6 years post-graduation) are $43,445. That's about 7% above the U.S. median graduate income.
Compare Similar Colleges
Less Competitive Schools
These schools have lower average SAT or ACT scores than Florida College. If your SAT or ACT score is slightly lower, you'll be competitive for these schools.
| School | Location | SAT | ACT |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jacksonville State University | Jacksonville, AL | 1055 | 21 |
| Marion Military Institute | Marion, AL | 1043 | 20 |
| University of Arkansas at Little Rock | Little Rock, AR | 1049 | 21 |
| Arkansas Tech University | Russellville, AR | 1050 | 21 |
| Central Baptist College | Conway, AR | 1022 | 20 |
| University of Arkansas Community College-Morrilton | Morrilton, AR | 1020 | 20 |
| Williams Baptist University | Walnut Ridge, AR | 1018 | 19 |
| Southern Arkansas University Main Campus | Magnolia, AR | 1050 | 20 |
| University of Arkansas-Fort Smith | Fort Smith, AR | 1050 | 21 |
| Western Connecticut State University | Danbury, CT | 1044 | 24 |
Equally Competitive Schools
These schools have the same range of average SAT or ACT scores as Florida College. If your SAT or ACT score is competitive, you'll be competitive for these schools also.
| School | Location | SAT | ACT |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colorado Mesa University | Grand Junction, CO | 1070 | 23 |
| University of Northern Colorado | Greeley, CO | 1077 | 22 |
| Point University | West Point, GA | 1059 | 19 |
| Piedmont University | Demorest, GA | 1074 | 21 |
| Shorter University | Rome, GA | 1075 | 20 |
More Competitive Schools
These schools have higher average SAT or ACT scores than Florida College. If you improve your SAT or ACT score, you'll be competitive for these schools.
| School | Location | SAT | ACT |
|---|---|---|---|
| Huntingdon College | Montgomery, AL | 1148 | 23 |
| University of South Alabama | Mobile, AL | 1119 | 23 |
| Tuskegee University | Tuskegee, AL | 1121 | 22 |
| Arkansas State University | Jonesboro, AR | 1119 | 22 |
| University of Central Arkansas | Conway, AR | 1117 | 22 |
Degree Programs at Florida College
Bachelor Degree Programs
Associate Degree Programs
Frequently Asked Questions About Florida College Admissions
Median earnings for Florida College graduates sit around $43,445 a year.
Florida College costs roughly $32,188 a year, and most students combine this with scholarships or aid.
Florida College's Pell Grant rate of 20.9% sits below the national average. Merit-based aid is worth checking regardless of income.
At 66.5%, Florida College's acceptance rate is on the more attainable end compared to top-tier selective schools.
Admitted students at Florida College average a 3.28 GPA.
Florida College doesn't publish a hard GPA floor, but landing at or above 2.98 keeps you in the typical applicant range; below it, lean on essays and recommendations.
Below 2.88, Florida College becomes a harder reach, though a strong test score, meaningful activities, and AP/IB coursework can still make a real case.
A strong SAT score matters at Florida College — aim above 1068, ideally within the 950–1250 range admitted students typically fall in.
The application deadline for Florida College is March 15. Rolling Admissions is also offered, so applying early improves your chances.
The application fee is 50. Fee waivers may be available. Check with admissions.
Yes, transfers are common. Have transcripts, recommendation letters, and a solid personal statement ready to make your case.
Strong academics, a focused extracurricular profile, and standout essays move the needle most, along with a competitive SAT/ACT score where relevant.
