BOCA RATON, Fla. — Moms and dads and young college prospects touring Florida Atlantic University. Amongst the crowd is Alexa Brodziak. For her home is where the heart is.
"I just like the Florida environment. I couldn't really imagine being anywhere else," she said.
Florida is receiving high praise for higher education. U.S. News and World Report said the Sunshine State is No. 1 in the nation. A distinction, Alexa's mom, Jennifer, considers important.
"I think that's great we live here, but I think it's important to the rankings because that's something everybody considers looking for college, looking for higher education," she said.
Florida has the second-largest state university system in the country.
The Rankings by the U.S. News & World Report consider the time it takes to finish a degree, along with tuition, fees and student debt.
Raymond Rodrigues is the chancellor of the State University System of Florida. He said Florida takes a unique approach.
"What they look at is, are your students being admitted, are they being retained, are they graduating, and when they graduate are they able to go on to graduate school, professional school or the workforce," he said. "And in Florida, to my knowledge, we're the only state that focuses our appropriation process on those student developments."
Courtney Lane attends FAU. She never considered leaving Florida for college.
"I actually toured FAU specifically when I was looking for colleges and so when I came here, I loved the environment," she said.
Timothy Rabil moved to England but came back for school.
"I wanted to come back to it's a good place to be," he said.
Florida has held the top distinction since the rankings began in 2017. When it comes to Pre - K to 12th-grade education, Florida ranked 14th overall.
