Welcome

Flagler President Dr. William T. Abare, Jr.

Flagler College is steeped in both history and youth. The historic campus dates back to 1888 when railroad tycoon Henry Flagler opened the luxurious Hotel Ponce de Leon. Today much of the 19-acre campus is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Yet the 2,000-student private liberal arts college is quite young and was only founded in 1968 with the restored Ponce as its centerpiece.

But in a short time, Flagler has established itself as an up-and-coming college both in the state and nationally. While other colleges boast of athletic championships, in 2004 Flagler had the distinction of bringing home two academic national championships. The first was its Society for Advancement of Management Team, which not only won the national title but has done it six times - more than any other undergraduate school in the history of the organization.

Flagler's Students In Free Enterprise team also won its national championship, landing FC-SIFE on the backs of Kellogg's Rice Crispies, Frosted Flakes and Eggo Waffles boxes. The team went on to the international competition in Barcelona, Spain, and placed second.

Flagler's largest majors are business administration, communication and education. In addition, there is a nationally-acclaimed deaf education program, and other popular majors include sport management, psychology, graphic design and English. There are a total of 20 majors, 25 minors, two pre-professional programs (pre-law and human services), and a public administration program.

Flagler also has an upper-level program at Tallahassee Community College offering business administration, accounting, elementary education, and elementary education/exceptional student education.

For the 11th year, Flagler has been included in U.S. News and World Report's list of “America's Best Colleges,” and for the second year was included in The Princeton Review's 2005 edition of “The 357 Best Colleges.”

Tuition remains low, and at $12,760 (including room and board) for the full academic year (two semesters), it is competitive with many of the state's public institutions. The affordable cost has helped make Flagler the only private college in Florida listed in "America's 100 Best College Buys."

The college's dorms, dining hall and many other services are in the campus' historic buildings like the Ponce, which more than a century ago catered to the country's elite. Henry Flagler, a partner with John D. Rockefeller in founding the Standard Oil Company, built what is still considered one of the finest examples of Spanish Renaissance architecture. To do it, he hired artists, craftsmen and engineers including interior decorator Louis Comfort Tiffany, the muralist George Maynard and even Thomas Edison.

In its heyday, Flagler's hotel attracted big names and celebrities like Rockefeller, John Jacob Astor, Will Rogers and Gary Cooper, along with Presidents Grover Cleveland, Warren G. Harding and Teddy Roosevelt.

Over the years, Flagler College has spent more than $23 million restoring the hotel and its surrounding structures. Today its courtyard, dining hall, rotunda, and grand parlor room can all be viewed on student-run tours.