FSU College Highlights and Selected National Rankings

Undergraduate Research

FSU is leading a growing movement to involve undergraduate students in the highest levels of academic engagement, helping students take advantage of the very best a preeminent research university has to offer. Through their participation in research, innovation and creative endeavors, undergraduate students become better thinkers, innovators and problem solvers, cultivating a depth of understanding needed to make a positive difference in the world. 

About 25 percent of FSU undergraduate students currently conduct out-of-class research with research mentors, with hundreds of FSU undergraduates co-authoring research publications and presentations with faculty members and graduate students every year. The university's signature undergraduate research program, the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program, helps students from any major participate in undergraduate research by serving as research assistants to faculty members and others across campus.

"Best Value" Public University

Florida State consistently delivers an affordable, high-quality education and offers distinctive opportunities to engage its students. FSU has been named the No. 15 Best Value College in the nation among public colleges and universities according to U.S. News & World Report's "Best Colleges 2025" guidebook. Florida State is the top-ranked Best Value public college in Florida, according to The Princeton Review’s 2024 Best Value Colleges list.

FSU continues to be a strong investment with the highest-rated credit of any public university in the state of Florida with an AA+ rating by S&P and Fitch and an equivalent Aa1 rating by Moody's.

Top Ranked Programs

Florida State University has reached a historic milestone, earning its highest ranking ever at No. 10 in Niche’s 2025 report of Top Public Universities in America. FSU also reaffirmed its place in the Top 25 among national public universities in the latest U.S. News & World Report rankings. FSU is number 23 on the list, marking the sixth consecutive year that the university placed in the Top 25. The rankings appear in U.S. News & World Report's "Best Colleges 2025" guidebook. The Journal of Criminal Justice Education ranked Florida State's College of Criminology and Criminal Justice faculty No. 1 in the nation for research productivity and influence, 2023. U.S. News & World Report's, "Best Graduate Schools," 2024 edition, ranks the College of Nursing’s Doctor of Nursing Practice No. 1 among Florida’s public universities. The College of Education ranked No. 14 among all public and private universities and No. 1 among Florida’s public universities. FSU's College of Motion Picture Arts is ranked No. 15 in the nation among all colleges and universities and No. 4 among public schools by The Hollywood Reporter, "Top 25 Film Schools," 2023. Filmschool.org also ranked FSU No. 1 in the category of "Best Affordable Film School" for 2022. Florida State also ranks No. 19 in The Hollywood Reporter's Top 25 drama schools, 2022, reaffirming the School of Theatre as a mainstay in the publication's annual list of best schools for an acting degree. Numerous other programs at Florida State rank in the Top 5.

Prestigious Awards

Florida State is one of the nation's top research institutions for producing Fulbright U.S. Scholars and students. Six FSU faculty scholars earned Fulbright grants for 2023-2024 along with nine student Fulbright Scholars receiving awards.

Florida State was selected for the top award in international education and study abroad programming by the Association for Public and Land Grant Universities (APLU). FSU also won the 2021 Degree Completion Award from the APLU, recognized as the most prominent award in the country for student success. The national student affairs organization, NASPA, has also recognized FSU in its First-Gen Forward Cohort for the university's demonstrated commitment to advancing first-generation student success.

Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, a professor at FSU's School of Dance and founder of Urban Bush Women, received the 2021 MacArthur Fellowship – also known as the "genius grant" – for using the power of dance and artistic expression to celebrate the voices of Black women and promote civic engagement and community organizing. In 2022, Zollar was awarded the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize – one of the most prestigious awards in the American arts, given annually to an individual who has "made an outstanding contribution to the beauty of the world and to mankind's enjoyment and understanding of life."

Best for Vets

U.S. News & World Report currently ranks Florida State No. 30 overall and No. 23 among public universities in its "Best National Universities for Veterans" rankings, which are published annually.

In addition, U.S. News & World Report's "Best Online Programs for Veterans" has the College of Education at No. 16 nationally for its online graduate Education program for veterans; the College of Criminology and Criminal Justice at No. 7 nationally and No. 4 among public universities and No. 3 for educating veterans in its online Criminal Justice graduate program; the College of Communication and Information at No. 5 nationally in the "Online Graduate Program for Veterans in Information Technology" rankings; and the College of Business at No. 16 overall in the "Best Online MBA Programs for Veterans".

Diversity

For a seventh consecutive year, Florida State University has been recognized by INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine as a Diversity Champion in higher education. FSU is one of only 16 colleges and universities nationwide to receive the award by the magazine, which is the nation's largest and oldest diversity and inclusion publication in higher education.

Florida State's continuing efforts to move diversity and inclusion to the forefront of the university mission have also received national recognition as the institution earned INSIGHT Into Diversity's "Higher Education Excellence in Diversity" (HEED) Award in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023, which annually recognizes colleges and universities that demonstrate an outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion.

In 2022, for the sixth year in a row, Florida State's College of Medicine earned the Health Professions HEED Award. The Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP), named FSU as one of the top 10 "Access Improver" institutions in the nation for its outstanding efforts in supporting and educating traditionally underrepresented students.

Of more than 140 U.S. medical schools, the FSU College of Medicine is one of three to be among the top 20 in enrollment of both Black and Hispanic students. Its enrollment of Hispanic students is more than double the national average, according to Association of American Medical Colleges data, 2020. 

Outstanding Athletics

Since it began fielding intercollegiate athletic teams following WWII in 1947, the Seminoles have won 19 national championships in nine sports, including the 2014, 2018, 2021 and 2023 NCAA Soccer Championships and the 2018 NCAA Softball Championship. The Seminole football program won its third national title in 2013.

FSU has captured six team national championships in the past 10 years. Eight of the school's 18 national titles have come since 2006.

Over the last 15 months, the Noles have had five sports finish among the Top Five nationally, including softball who reached the national championship series with Oklahoma in 2023.

Since joining the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) in 1992, the Seminoles have won 107 ACC team championships in 14 different sports with 44 of those titles coming in the past 11 seasons.

Over the last 17 years, FSU athletics has placed among the Top 20 of the Learfield Directors' Cup standings 16 times. FSU has finished 15th or better in the standings in 14 of the last 16 years. The Seminoles have ranked as the ACC's first or second overall athletics program three times in the last six complete seasons.

Leading the State of Florida

FSU's record retention rate, which measures how many first-year students stay enrolled from one fall semester to the next fall, reached 96% for the first time in FSU history. The record four-year graduation rate is among the highest in the country at 75%. FSU's six-year graduation rate rose to a record 83 percent, also among the highest in the nation. Highest percentage of alumni giving back than any university in Florida. Highest amount of National Science Foundation research and development expenditures in the state. College of Law is the No. 1 law school in Florida in job placement and maintains one of the highest passing rates on the Florida Bar Exam.

Rankings