University of North Florida

Public · Moderately Selective · FL

Photo: The222 (CC BY-SA 3.0)

School data & stats

TypePublic

LocationFL · South

SettingUrban

Undergrads13,359

Student:faculty19:1

Outcomes

4-yr grad rate50.5%

6-yr grad rate69.2%

Drop-out rate15.3%

Study abroad—

Cost

In-state tuition$6k

Out-of-state tuition$21k

Application fee—

Community

Racial diversity44.5%

Gender diversity58.1%

International2.2%

Identity—

Overview

The University of North Florida sits on a Jacksonville campus built around a large nature preserve, giving it an unusually green, outdoors-adjacent feel for a public university in a major metro area. It emphasizes hands-on, career-connected learning as a core part of its identity, a legacy of its founding in the late 1960s as a school built specifically to serve older, transfer, and working students before it grew into a more traditional four-year university with its own residential population and athletics program.

Academics

Nursing, business, and coastal biology are UNF's standout programs, with the Coggin College of Business and Brooks College of Health carrying the university's strongest professional reputations, and the coastal biology track benefiting directly from the campus's natural setting and proximity to Atlantic coastline and estuary ecosystems. Internships and co-ops with Jacksonville's healthcare, logistics, and financial-services employers are a routine part of the undergraduate experience rather than an optional add-on, reflecting the university's applied, career-first academic culture. Class sizes tend to favor direct faculty access over large lecture-hall instruction, typical of a mid-sized regional public university.

Campus & student life

The nature preserve at the heart of campus shapes daily life, popular with students for hiking, running, and general outdoor recreation between classes, and it's a genuinely distinctive feature among public universities. Jacksonville itself offers a real city backdrop, including internship access and a growing downtown, without campus feeling urban or cramped. Athletics compete as the Ospreys, and student life has grown more traditionally residential over time as the university has shifted from its commuter-school origins.

Getting in

UNF's application process is straightforward and less essay-intensive than elite private schools, with attention to major fit for competitive professional programs like nursing, where space is limited relative to demand. It remains more accessible than flagship state universities in Florida, making it a realistic option for strong students who want a four-year public university experience without the most competitive admissions bar.

After graduation

Graduates place strongly into Jacksonville's own healthcare, logistics, and financial-services employers, thanks to the university's deliberate local internship and co-op pipeline built directly into coursework. Nursing graduates in particular have a well-worn path into the city's hospital systems, and the university's applied, career-first academic culture generally translates into strong regional job placement rather than a national recruiting profile.

Worth knowing

The campus nature preserve and strong local-employer internship ties make this a good fit for a student who wants career-relevant experience built into the degree rather than sought out separately. UNF's roots as a school built for older and transfer students are also worth knowing, since the culture still carries some of that practical, less traditional-campus character.

unf.edu ↗

Admissions

Acceptance rate53.2%

Enrolled mid-50%SAT 1070–1270 · ACT 19–25

Test policyrequired

Rec letters0

Deadlines (2026–27 cycle)

Regular decisionDec 16

AdmissionRolling

Verified from the school’s admissions page ↗

Applying