Enrollment: 1818
Most Popular Majors: Business Administration and Management, General,Environmental Studies,Marine Biology and Biological Oceanography,
Student Faculty Ratio: 13:1

Undergraduate Receiving Need-Based Financial Aid: 49
Average Freshman Total Need-Based Gift Aid: $17,390.00

Lots of Beer
Reefer Madness

Students Say - Academics
Florida's Eckerd College may be small, but it only seems small "where it matters, like class size[s] and relationships with professors." It also offers many "big-school opportunities that make it seem bigger than it is." Among the school's most distinguished offerings are an "amazing" marine science program-"if it's not your passion," students say, "it will eat you alive"-and a "great international relations program." The latter benefits from a school-wide commitment to undergraduate international travel. One student writes: "International education is great. I spent last January (winter term) in Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia, and next semester I'll be in Sweden on an exchange program." Students tell us that academic programs other than the sciences and international relations "aren't nearly as demanding, and professors don't seem to expect as much out of the students." As one student puts it, "There are two kinds of Eckerd students: Those with easy majors and those [who] watch everyone else party on Tuesdays and skip class to go the beach." Eckerd offers "much flexibility for designing your own concentration or for independent studies" as well as many opportunities "to do research with your professors and advance in ways you couldn't imagine at larger schools." How accessible are professors here? "Pitchers with Professors"-"where students and professors can discuss class lectures or [have] general conversation over a pitcher of beer or a soda"-"is a common occurrence each month."

Students Say - Campus Life
"It's Florida," explains one student. "Life at school is laid-back." The warm weather "definitely has an effect on the attitude of most people who live on campus." Eckerd's environs include various sports grounds, including beach volleyball courts and a private waterfront where students can take sailing and windsurfing classes. If that's not enough, two gorgeous beaches are less than 10 minutes away, downtown Tampa is only a half-hour away, and Busch Gardens and Disney World are 45 and 90 minutes away, respectively. One student sums up, "the location is amazing. Waking up on the Tampa Bay each morning energizes you." The only drawback is that "Eckerd is somewhat separated from St. Petersburg at large. It's [on] the southern tip of the city and you're really out of luck if you don't have a car or don't know someone who does, since mostly everything worth doing is far away." On campus "The most random of events happen...We've got drum circles on the beach, Saturday Morning Market, Kappa Karnival, Pitchers with Professors, Saturday boat trips to Shell Island, Ybor City, and lots of other things to explore."

Students Say - Student Body
The Eckerd student body includes "science majors (geeks, if you will)" along with "a small dosage of preppy students," "a lot of surfers, sailors, and tanners," "athletes," "church people," and "trustafarians." Athletes "stick together within their groups," and "the marine science majors sort of are a collective," but students report that "it's easy to make friends and know people in every group." "Overall my friends are a varied crowd," a junior declares. While Eckerd's student body is "mostly white and from a middle- to upper-class background" this "is not a typical college," especially by Florida standards. "Don't expect sorority girls and football players," students warn. It's worth noting that Eckerd "is a very liberal campus, with many Democrats, hippies, marijuana, parties, pets, environmental concern, and a basic openness to new things. If you're close-minded and don't want to see others' views, don't come here."

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