Forbes Top Colleges List – University of Florida – Courtesy: Shutterstock – Image by Bryan Pollard
According to Forbes’ List of America’s Best Colleges, the University of Florida was placed No. 4 among the nation’s best public universities last year.
It slipped a bit this year. The top Florida university, UF, was placed No. 5 among public colleges and 30th overall in the 2025–2026 list, which was made public on August 26.
In its introduction to the 2025 ranking, Forbes stated, “To say it’s been a rough year for American colleges would be an understatement.” “By freezing research funds, punishing efforts at campus diversity, limiting the flow of international students, raising taxes on certain college endowments, and reducing the generosity of student loan programs, President Donald Trump, his administration, and Congressional Republicans have waged a financial and cultural war on higher education over the past eight months.
“Despite this, American colleges are still delivering gold-standard undergraduate education,” the publication stated.
This year’s top school? The Massachusetts Institute of Technology regained its top spot after Forbes analyzed 14 metrics to identify the 500 universities that “offer the best educational, financial, and career outcomes for all students.” According to Forbes, schools were ranked according to undergraduate results.
With five of the eight in the Top 10 and all of them in the Top 20, Ivy League schools dominated the top of the list.
In 2024, Forbes recognized UF as one of the top 10 “New Ivys” public universities, a designation given to institutions that “produce exceptional and highly employable graduates.” This year, UF did not make that list.
Florida University is frantically trying to find a new president.
One week before the current interim president Kent Fuchs’ extended contract is about to expire, the University of Florida board of trustees voted on August 25 to name Dr. Donald Landry, a Columbia University medical professor, as the institution’s interim president. After Ben Sasse, the previous president, abruptly left after barely 17 months, Fuchs returned as interim president in 2024.
After hours of interrogation regarding his handling of pro-Palestinian demonstrations on campus, gender-affirming care, climate change and his response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and his prior support of DEI programs, the board of governors rejected Dr. Santa Ono, the university’s only finalist for president and former president of the University of Michigan, in June.
What was the ranking of Florida colleges in Forbes’ 2025 America’s Top Colleges list?
Here are the 500 colleges in Florida that made Forbes’ list this year:
No. 30: University of Florida
No. 72: Florida State University
No. 76: University of Miami
No. 112: University of South Florida
No. 150: Florida International University
No. 156: University of Central Florida
No. 214: Florida Atlantic University
No. 231: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach
No. 294: New College of Florida
No. 330: University of North Florida
No. 336: University of West Florida
No. 341: Florida Gulf Coast University
No. 358: University of Florida, Online
No. 377: Rollins College
No. 445: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Worldwide
No. 492: Jacksonville University
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Born and raised in South Florida, Krystal is a recent graduate from the University of Miami with professional writing experience at the collegiate and national news outlet levels. She’s a foodie who loves all things travel, the beach, & visiting new places throughout Florida.