A couple of weeks ago, we went on a college visit for an open house that the University of West Florida was having and discovered that Pensacola not only has a fine place to educate your children but also enjoy the surf nearby at Pensacola beach with their big waves during parts of the year. On the day of our visit, it happened to be quite windy, there happened to be a bunch of surfers riding the waves, and my daughter happened to be quite exhilerated imagining herself as a college student coming to the beach on the weekends to go surfing. We'll see. We still have a lot of other universities in Florida to visit yet!

Anyway, here's my take on the University of West Florida. The new President seems inspirational and reports herself as well as the professors as ones who forge new paths and focus primarily on high quality undergraduate education - offering more flexibility without so much bureacracy and the "no's" you might get at other educational institutions. They emphasized here is where you can get more support and encouragement to go "outside the box" in research, teaching, or learning. This university does not offer as many graduate degrees and does not emphasize graduate degree programs as much as they do their undergraduate degree programs. Also, there's no football team here (yet) so if that's important to you, look elsewhere. However, if you want a smaller university where professors are more likely to get to know you, or if you like any of their specific degree offerings, some of which are unique and not offered that easily elsewhere (such as an undergraduate marine biology degree), or enjoy a bunch of enthusiastic college students (wow, there was a good showing of dancing, chanting, and exhuberantly cheering students around during the open house!), then give this university a visit!

http://www.uwf.edu