9 Best Mfa Programs In Sarasota, FL (2022 Updated)

We went on a college tour of New College of Florida. New College is a unique honors college that is part of the State University System of Florida. The tour was very informing about how New College focuses on academics, the arts, and a liberal arts college education. While New College is small, it has growth plans in place. The tour guide advised they have hired 15 new multidiscipline faculty members, with a goal to grow the college from about 800 to 1,200 students. Unique Observations: New College is located on Sarasota Bay, which makes for a beautiful and relaxing place to attend college, have special events, and participate in water sports. New College campus is split between the north and south side by Tamiami Trail, with a pedestrian walkover for students. New College is located very close to the Sarasota- Bradenton International Airport, which makes it very convenient to travel to and from the campus. Located in beautiful Sarasota, Florida, New College is closely connected with the local art, cultural, and outdoor recreation scene. For a true liberal arts education, you should consider New College of Florida.Fuller Insurance - Santa Rosa Bch

The professors here are amazingly good! They are what's keeping me here. Most of the administration is terrible. When I got here I heard about it a lot from the senior students but I didn't realize how bad it is until I finished my first semester. Mold in your room? Too bad. Need your transcripts sent to another school? Too bad. Accidentally got billed twice for the meal plan? Too bad. Someone from another dorm in another building breaks something? Too bad, everyone gets billed. Want to live off campus? Too bad. So many students leave before they finish their first year and the administration is scratching their heads wondering why. The people in Housing and the Business Office need to be replaced, ask any student.Jay Saur

It's a small yet personal school because the faculty are truly FOR the students. Everyone is involved in some way on campus, its not called an honors college for nothing. Everyone here TRIES to succeed. I was pleasantly surprised by the number of resources available to students including a study abroad program. There's plenty of student activities to participate in, perhaps even TOO many. This college is for people who want to challenge themselves and develop skills that will help them grow into the best person they can be.Jordan Lam

I went to this school years ago for a short time. I wasn’t from Sarasota and because I was chubby and from North Port, teachers and staff would allow students to throw dog food at me and my friends. Push us into lockers. Call us names. I had the female guidance counselor go through my private text messages and photos. I was 14/15 and the counselor was going through underage explicit content on students phones and admitted to it to them, and myself, but wouldn’t bring it to the parents attention. Instead she would question who the people you’re taking to are and to tell her what was going on privately. When my friends in north port passed away, they forced me not to talk about it, but expected us march to the funeral of students who has passed due to underage drunk driving who had crashed their vehicle at 3 am. They would bash North port and the multiple deaths they also had, an told all of us, the kids in north port who died weren’t important during morning line up. This school was mean. The band director was disturbing. Gave no help. Picked favorites, and got way too deep into their students lives and social media/cell phones. I still have ptsd from going to this school.Ashley NV

My 5 star opinion, is based strictly as a substitute teacher. I taught as a long term substitute for 8 weeks and then worked as a sub in random classes. As a substitute, I was made to feel very comfortable at SMA by the faculty and administrators. I felt appreciated. Anything I needed or any questions I had, someone was there to help. The biggest complaints I heard from students were the dress code regulations. My only complaint has nothing to do with the school but with parents. Parents, Not Teachers, are responsible for how much rest your child gets. They come to school with a few hours of sleep and don't want to do learn. Parents, Not Teachers, are responsible for your children being taught to respect authority figures. When your child talks back rudely to a teacher and they are sent to ISS dont complain about the teacher. Teach Your Child RESPECT. If you as a parent respect the regulations and support the school, your children will too. Teachers can do a much better job if they don't have to do your job. I recommend SMA but only do so if stricter regulations don't bother you or your child. It's a great school!Maria Eberle

I graduated class of 2014 and through the time I went there it started to decline. When they added the IB program is when it really went down hill. My sister graduated last year and it seemed as if the IB students were the only ones that mattered. If you were just a student not in the IB track you didn't matter regardless of if you were in regular classes, honors, AP, or duel enrollment. I still know people that attend the school and many are glad to be getting out, and even several who just left and went somewhere else because they felt as if they didn't matter. When I went all the staff and faculty treated the students at individuals and invested time into helping them. The teachers worked with the students to help them improve and would spend extra time if needed. Many of the teachers and staff that were there when I was do not appear to be there any more. I am very sad to have to give this rating and review, but with all the issues that are coming up and what I have seen my friends going through I only thought it was fair to let people know. I hope that one day the school can get back to its former glory.Meulin Cat

Going to graduate this summer semester. My experience here at usfsm was in every sense of the word, magical. The thing I love about going to such a small campus is that you are afforded so much more individual attention than you would be at a larger institution. This also means that there are significantly more opportunities for students to take advantage of. I went to Japan on a business scholarship for 2 and a half weeks (essentially for free) that is specific only to usfsm. I founded a prominent film club on campus, and even became student body president, designing and approving a $1.7 million dollar renovation of our student space from the ground up. I was shy in high-school, and the type of students here are too, but if you take the time to get to know everyone, they eventually help bring out the best in you and everyone else around them (even themselves). As for the comment that was made about advising, things are kind of in a bad spot right now, but I'm confident that under the leadership of Chancellor Stone things will be ironed out fairly soon. But overall, the small class experience, individual attention, and sheer multitudes of unique opportunities makes USF Sarasota-Manatee a force to be reckoned with.Alexander Benishek

USFSM proclaims to have a personable experience. Though this maybe true for some students; it wasn't for me. My experience as a new transfer student was VERY unpleasant, from the academic advisors to financial aid. I even reached out to admissions for help because I wasn't getting the resource and tools they represent at USFSM; still no help. I feel as though new students should have proper guidance in their first semester at least but everything they stated in "open house" has yet to be true. If your looking for a college that care for their new students and students in general, you won't find it here; in my opinion!S H

Awesome school where it's easy to get into the campus life, while giving you the chances to get involved locally and find yourself a job. Also without a doubt the best school in Florida in terms of cost to what you get out of it!Evan Fruehauf

I was there for two years until I had to take a gap year. I studied Game design. It's a good school in general and people do come out with an amazing portfolio. But I want to point out some things. The school is unnecessarily expensive. Yes, it's a private school that provides technology for their students, but so do community colleges and universities where a tuition for a year there would total just a semester in ringling. Not being able to obtain a loan for the year will guarantee being forced to take a gap year. They don't accept payments per semester in terms of student loans. As a game art major, the labs are limited and they all close at 2 am. And you would think that's not so bad. It's bad if you have a lot to do with deadlines so close to one another. The one thing that's always asked for is a 24 hour lab, which never happens. The education is amazing, but to know some more experimental stuff or to get better at specific things (like lighting and VFX) that's something you have to do on your own time which is something not a lot of people have in this major. The teachers there are amazing at what they do since they've been in the industry themselves. The education feels like giving the basics and people experiment with it to see how they can do it better. Faculty and administration wise tends to vary. I've heard a lot of people tell me that there are people who are of jo help and would give attitude, but my encounters with them are quite pleasant. If you know what you need and how to ask for help, it will be given to you. But that's also hard to distinguish sometimes. Housing here is descent. Comes with a bed, closet or wardrobe, drawers, and a desk for you to work in. Some of these places have mold and shouldn't have people in it and yet they still put people in. And there's new housing that is brand spanking new and very pleasant to live in. For people with an ESA (emotional/emergency support animal) it is quite hard to get that covered and have to fight quite hard to get the acceptance in for your pet. I would assume it would be different for specific people. Some of my friends struggled to get their pets in. A good amount of activities for students who have time to connect with others. Student run and they're fun to be a part of. And for those out there: don't bother trying to start a fraternity and/or a sorority group here. Never happened here. And last but not least: food here definitely sucks. With the exception of the mac and cheese and the ox tail they serve a few times. Their cafeteria has cause a lot of health issues and are not always well cooked. Sometimes serving undercooked meat. From when I was there there are 4 food locations: Hammonds (main cafeteria, and where most of the trouble happens), outtakes (serves snacks and bottled drinks. Please check for expiration dates. Sometimes they're not removed so keep an eye out for that. Also be cool with a guy name Pete, he's a cool guy), Roberta's cafe (haven't had anything there), and Brickman's cafe (they serve sandwiches and soup. Probably the best source of food from on campus prepared by staff, but also has had their problems). One of the problems that occurred was the upbringing of the nobora virus because people would serve with unwashed and un-gloved hands. I had a few friends affected by it. As many universities, it is full of high schoolers who just graduated and along comes some drama. I was part of a graduation class that has so many problems and drama, i had more friends from other years than my own. In general, it's a good school. I would not recommend coming here if you want a more detailed education if it's not Computer Animation or Illustration (the most prefers majors; yes there's favoritism in majors as well). I would also not recommend coming here if money is an issue. Can probably get way better education at an affordable price somewhere else. But power to you if you do decide to come here.Denise Hernandez

One of the jewels of Sarasota and SW Florida, the Ringling has been one of my favorite museums since I was just a kid taking field trips in grade school. The museum's wide array of mediums and rotating exhibitions mean that with each trip there's something new to be discovered. If visiting in the summer please be sure to check the weather before heading out as only about 50% of the grounds are actual museum buildings- the rest are beautifully manicured tropical gardens that would be a disappointment not to enjoy.Eric Hines

There are many good school that are more affordable with the same skilled teacher please think twice about how you plan out your life and recognize that the arts in general are difficult to make a living in. Stick to a major that will give you a practical skills and can help you make a real living. Don’t be fooled by pretty pictures and fancy stuff. Student loans can destroy your life and going to college isn’t suppose to make things harder it suppose to be another step to securing independence.Amanda D

We saw yet another fantastic production here tonight. Everything was truly Broadway quality. We are so fortunate to have this amazing facility right here. Several of their productions have transferred directly to Broadway, and the scenic design shops have created sets for Broadway, the local opera, TV, and movies. Truly incredible! April 27, 2022, strangest thing- they canceled the performance of KNOXVILLE after the audience was seated, and it was a full house!! Weird!! We finally got to see KNOXVILLE, and it was great, especially the music.Marc Erwin

Great show and a wonderful setting! They also followed all covid rules! Made 2 women, who refused to wear masks leave. They were applauded when they were escorted out.Stephen London

Beautiful. theater, very friendly and professional staff. The play we saw was "HAIR" and the performers were incredible! I highly recommend this placeCandy Buchanan

Administration is awful. The people running the school don't undertsand the concepts of how to retain busines. Regretfully, the school is clearly another case of a business gone bad due to involved, unprofessional employess who staff the place.Alex Bentano