Florida keeps delivering results while the rest of the country struggles.
The Sunshine State’s approach to higher education is paying dividends.
And Florida cities swept the competition in one ranking that proves Ron DeSantis got this right.
Florida dominates college town rankings with three cities in top 10
WalletHub just released its 2025 rankings of America’s best college towns and cities — and Florida didn’t just show up, the state absolutely crushed the competition.
Orlando grabbed third place, Tampa landed at fourth, and Gainesville secured the 10th spot out of 415 cities evaluated nationwide.¹
Austin, Texas held the top position, with Ann Arbor, Michigan taking second place.² But Florida’s dominance goes deeper than just the raw numbers suggest.
The rankings evaluated cities using 31 metrics across three key categories: wallet friendliness, social environment, and academic and economic opportunities.³
What separates Florida’s showing from other states is the sheer concentration of top performers — three cities in the top 10 represents a strategic advantage that can’t be explained away by coincidence.
Orlando earned its third-place ranking through a combination that appeals directly to students and families dealing with the Biden-Harris inflation crisis.
The University of Central Florida stands as Orlando’s flagship institution, and the numbers tell the story of why students are flocking there.⁴
The city ranks 14th nationwide for the lowest average combined in-state tuition and housing costs at just $24,668 per year.⁵
That’s roughly a third of what some elite private schools charge — and students aren’t sacrificing quality for the savings.
Orlando ranked 54th out of more than 400 cities for school quality, which means students get excellent education without the crushing debt that follows them for decades.⁶
UCF becomes Florida’s enrollment powerhouse under DeSantis reforms
The University of Central Florida isn’t just growing — it’s exploded into Florida’s largest university by enrollment with nearly 70,000 students.⁷
That makes UCF one of the largest universities in the entire nation, but size alone doesn’t explain its appeal.
The Fall 2024 freshman class averaged a 1342 SAT score with a 4.22 high school GPA, demonstrating the caliber of students choosing Orlando over supposedly more prestigious locations.⁸
UCF ranks among the top 25 colleges nationally for incoming National Merit Scholars, with 506 new Burnett Honors College students enrolled.⁹
These aren’t students who couldn’t get into elite schools — they’re choosing Florida deliberately because the value proposition makes sense.
Orlando provides more than just affordable education — it delivers the full college experience that students actually want.
The city boasts one of the nation’s lowest unemployment rates alongside the 16th-highest job growth rate.¹⁰
Students can work part-time during school and then transition immediately into careers after graduation without leaving the city.
Beyond academics and jobs, Orlando delivers the lifestyle component that matters to 18-to-22-year-olds trying to balance studying with actually enjoying their college years.
The city offers an especially high number of attractions, sports clubs, shopping centers, food trucks and coffee shops per capita.¹¹
Students can watch or play NCAA Division I basketball, soccer and football, turning game days into the kind of memories that last a lifetime.¹²
Tampa secured the fourth spot overall and third among large college cities using a similar formula — affordable education combined with economic opportunity.¹³
The city’s universities provide quality degrees without the coastal elite price tags, while the Tampa Bay economy gives graduates immediate job prospects.
Gainesville claimed the 10th overall spot and third place in the midsize city category, anchored by the University of Florida’s reputation as a top-tier institution.¹⁴
Tallahassee rounded out Florida’s strong showing at fifth place among midsize cities, demonstrating that the state’s success extends beyond just its largest metropolitan areas.¹⁵
Florida’s education reforms create competitive advantage over blue states
Florida’s dominance in the college town rankings isn’t happening in isolation from the state’s broader education reforms under Governor Ron DeSantis.
While Democrats in states like California and New York watched their public universities become laboratories for woke ideology, Florida took a different path.
The state eliminated DEI offices and mandates, ended race-based admissions practices, and refocused universities on academic excellence instead of political indoctrination.
https://twitter.com/GovRonDeSantis/status/1675610297380270080
Students and families noticed — enrollment data shows Florida bucking national trends as other states hemorrhage students.
According to EdChoice data, nearly 13% of Florida students now participate in private school choice programs, the highest percentage in the nation.¹⁶
The state leads America in educational freedom, and that competitive pressure forces public universities to deliver actual value instead of just collecting tuition checks.
WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo explained what makes winning cities stand out from the rest of the pack.
"Towns with a low cost of living, plenty of activities and large student populations can make your college experience a lot less stressful and a lot more enjoyable," Lupo said.¹⁷
He added that cities with strong economic environments make landing jobs during or immediately after college significantly easier.¹⁸
Florida delivers on all those metrics simultaneously — something blue states used to do before they prioritized politics over performance.
The rankings methodology evaluated housing costs, cost of higher education, city accessibility, crime rates, and median income of part-time workers among other factors.¹⁹
Florida cities excel across these categories because state leadership created the policy environment that makes excellence possible.
Compare Orlando’s $24,668 annual cost to attend UCF against the $91,000-plus students pay at the most expensive cities.²⁰
That difference isn’t just about sticker prices — it reflects a state government that views higher education as a public service rather than a profit center for administrators and diversity bureaucrats.
The economic opportunity component matters even more than affordability when students start thinking about life after graduation.
UCF researchers earned more than $1 billion in external grants during the past decade, creating opportunities for students to work on cutting-edge projects.²¹
Students complete 33,055 co-op, internship and service-learning experiences annually at UCF, giving them real-world skills employers actually want.²²
Florida’s college towns aren’t just cheaper alternatives to supposedly better options in other states — they’ve become the superior choice for students who care about outcomes over prestige.
The data proves what Florida families already knew: Governor DeSantis’s education reforms are working exactly as intended, creating opportunities for students while eliminating the woke nonsense that turned universities in other states into indoctrination factories.
¹ Kyle Sejas, "Three Florida cities dominate top college town rankings," Florida News, October 21, 2025.
² Ibid.
³ Ibid.
⁴ "Best College Towns & Cities in America," WalletHub, October 2025.
⁵ Ibid.
⁶ Ibid.
⁷ "UCF Facts 2024-2025," University of Central Florida, August 19, 2025.
⁸ Ibid.
⁹ Ibid.
¹⁰ "Best College Towns & Cities in America," WalletHub, October 2025.
¹¹ Ibid.
¹² Ibid.
¹³ Kyle Sejas, "Three Florida cities dominate top college town rankings," Florida News, October 21, 2025.
¹⁴ Ibid.
¹⁵ Ibid.
¹⁶ "2025 EdChoice Share: Exploring Where America’s Students Are Educated," EdChoice, April 16, 2025.
¹⁷ Kyle Sejas, "Three Florida cities dominate top college town rankings," Florida News, October 21, 2025.
¹⁸ Ibid.
¹⁹ "How WalletHub Ranked America’s Top College Towns For 2025," I95Rock, October 2025.
²⁰ "Best College Towns & Cities in America," WalletHub, October 2025.
²¹ "UCF Facts 2024-2025," University of Central Florida, August 19, 2025.
²² Ibid.
