Academics
New College of Florida offers you tremendous freedom to explore your personal interests and to achieve your educational goals. Our curriculum emphasizes in-depth, directed study based on the belief that students learn more when they are actively involved in the educational process. We provide an education that broadens your perspective, sharpens your analytical abilities, and develops your intellectual self-reliance.
Below are some of the features of academic life at New College that set us apart from many other leading colleges and universities.
Flexible Curriculum
At New College, you choose courses and academic activities based on your own academic interests and goals. Although higher-level courses often have prerequisites, and students are encouraged to take a broad range of courses through the Liberal Arts Curriculum, to a remarkable degree you will choose what to study based on your interests. You may select from more than 30 defined areas of concentration (our term for “majors”) or design a multi-disciplinary or special area of concentration.
Emphasis on Undergraduate Research
The structure of the New College academic program encourages students to continue their studies outside the classroom. Such study may take the form of laboratory, field or library research; an internship; or a creative project or performance. During the fall or spring semester, Independent Reading Projects (IRPs) and tutorials provide opportunities for students to work one-on-one or in small groups with the guidance of a faculty advisor. Independent Study Projects are completed during the four weeks of January Interterm. These projects focus on independent research, group study projects, study abroad, service learning, or an artistic project. The senior thesis – original research or a creative project in your major or area of concentration – marks the culmination of your New College experience.
Narrative Evaluations
At New College, faculty members assess your coursework, independent study projects, tutorials, and other activities for academic credit through narrative evaluations. These assessments provide you the opportunity for continuing conversations with faculty from whom you’ve taken classes once the semester is completed. They may articulate your strengths and your areas of weakness, and suggest further avenues for study, as well as evaluate your performance. Through this process faculty get to know you well, and can write detailed letters of evaluation to support your applications to graduate and professional schools and serve as references for employment.
Commitment to Undergraduate Education
At New College our faculty are committed to teaching and mentoring undergraduates. As advisors, they work with you from Orientation Week to Graduation Day. Through the process of negotiating the contract, your faculty advisor talks with you every semester about your goals and how they relate to your academic and co-curricular activities. When possible, they link their research and creative activities to their teaching, and involve students in their research and creative activities.
