University of Miami vs. University of Florida
These two share a state and chase the same in-state applicants, so students lump them together, but they hand you opposite kinds of college. UF runs as the giant public flagship in Gainesville, where Saturdays belong to the Gators and a sea of orange and blue, and the in-state price drops to almost nothing once Bright Futures kicks in. Its strength spreads across business, engineering, and the life sciences, the breadth you'd expect from a campus that dwarfs its private rival. That scale cuts both ways. In a freshman lecture, nobody tracks you down to check how you're doing. Miami sits a fraction the size, private, packed around Lake Osceola in Coral Gables minutes from the city, and it teaches you in smaller rooms, with strength in business, the health professions, and marine science. Admissions split the two cleanly: Miami stayed test-optional for its most recent class and runs binding Early Decision for students certain it's their first choice, while UF requires the SAT or ACT and offers only nonbinding Early Action, so if you're a Florida resident chasing the lowest sticker, UF earns the higher spot.
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Acceptance rate
Total applicants, admitted students, and enrolled students for the most recent admission cycle.
Early decision
Miami offers binding Early Decision. Applying early can meaningfully change your odds — but ED commits you to enroll if admitted.
Admit rate by application plan
% admitted~2.7× higher admit rate applying early.
Standardized tests
Miami is currently test-optional — you may apply without submitting scores.
SAT Accepted?
ACT Accepted?
Test Optional?
SAT Scores
ACT Scores
Class rank
Where Miami's enrolled first-years placed in their high school graduating class.
Based on the 22% of enrolled students who reported a class rank. Miami does not publish an average GPA.
Admissions factors
How Miami weighs each part of your application.
Rigor of High School Record
Academic GPA
Standardized Test Scores
Application Essay
Recommendations
Extracurricular Activities
Character / Personal Qualities
Talent / Ability
First Generation
Level of Applicant's Interest
Class Rank
Volunteer Work
Work Experience
Geographical Residence
State Residency
Alumni Relation
Racial / Ethnic Status
Religious Affiliation
Cost of attendance
Estimated full-time annual cost from Miami's Common Data Set.
Private universities charge the same tuition regardless of state residency.
Financial aid
Need-based aid statistics for full-time first-year students.
Popular majors
Bachelor's degrees awarded in the past year by academic major.
Student-faculty ratio
The number of students for every one faculty member, indicating the average level of access students have to instructional staff.
Campus life
On-campus housing and Greek life participation rates.
Enrollment by gender
Student diversity
Racial and ethnic breakdown of enrolled undergraduate students.
Acceptance rate
Total applicants, admitted students, and enrolled students for the most recent admission cycle.
Early decision
Florida offers binding Early Decision. Applying early can meaningfully change your odds — but ED commits you to enroll if admitted.
Standardized tests
Florida requires standardized test scores for all applicants.
SAT Accepted?
ACT Accepted?
Test Optional?
SAT Scores
ACT Scores
Class rank
Where Florida's enrolled first-years placed in their high school graduating class.
Based on the 87% of enrolled students who reported a class rank. Florida does not publish an average GPA.
Admissions factors
How Florida weighs each part of your application.
Rigor of High School Record
Academic GPA
Standardized Test Scores
Application Essay
Recommendations
Extracurricular Activities
Character / Personal Qualities
Talent / Ability
First Generation
Level of Applicant's Interest
Class Rank
Volunteer Work
Work Experience
Geographical Residence
State Residency
Alumni Relation
Racial / Ethnic Status
Religious Affiliation
Cost of attendance
Estimated full-time annual cost from Florida's Common Data Set. Only tuition changes with residency.
Financial aid
Need-based aid statistics for full-time first-year students.
Popular majors
Bachelor's degrees awarded in the past year by academic major.
Student-faculty ratio
The number of students for every one faculty member, indicating the average level of access students have to instructional staff.
Campus life
On-campus housing and Greek life participation rates.
Enrollment by gender
Student diversity
Racial and ethnic breakdown of enrolled undergraduate students.
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Miami vs. Florida: frequently asked questions
Miami wins the headline-rate contest, admitting about 17.6% of applicants against 24.2% at UF in the most recent cycle. Residency flips the math, though: only about 20% of UF's first-year class comes from out of state, so non-Florida applicants fight over a far smaller slice, while 63% of Miami's class arrives from out of state. The admitted profiles nearly overlap, with UF posting a middle-50% SAT of 1330–1470 and a 3.92 average GPA next to Miami's 1350–1450 SAT and 3.75 GPA.
They split on this. UF runs no test-optional policy, so every applicant submits the SAT or ACT; enrolled students scored a middle 50% of 1330–1470 on the SAT and 29–33 on the ACT. Miami stayed test-optional for its most recent class, where submitters posted a middle 50% of 1350–1450 SAT and 30–33 ACT, but it brings back the SAT-or-ACT requirement starting with Fall 2027 applicants.
On sticker price, UF undercuts Miami badly, especially for residents: tuition and required fees come to about $6,381 for Floridians and $28,658 out of state, against a flat $65,430 at private Miami. Aid reshuffles the picture in uneven ways. Miami meets 100% of demonstrated need with an average package near $64,221 reaching about 37% of first-years, while UF meets 99% of need on a smaller average package near $14,201 that reaches about 65% of first-years. A Florida resident pays almost nothing comparable at UF, and a high-need out-of-state student sees Miami's larger need-based aid recover much of the spread.
Business tops the list at both schools, yet it carries more weight at Miami, claiming about 26% of bachelor's degrees there against roughly 14% at UF. UF spreads its strength wider: business leads, but engineering (about 12%) and the biological and life sciences (about 11%) run close behind across a broad research university. Miami funnels students into business and the health professions on a tighter campus that posts an 11-to-1 student-faculty ratio, where UF sits around 16-to-1.
UF dwarfs Miami in size, enrolling about 36,573 undergraduates against Miami's 13,241, more than two and a half times as many. Both keep most students close to campus, with roughly 75% living on campus at UF and 88% at Miami. UF also holds onto and graduates students at a higher clip, logging a 98% first-year retention rate and a 91% six-year graduation rate where Miami posts 93% and 84%.
Miami alone offers binding Early Decision, splitting it into an ED I and an ED II round and pairing it with a nonbinding Early Action option. UF skips Early Decision entirely and runs only nonbinding, non-restrictive Early Action, so applying early there never locks you into enrolling. A student set on Miami as a first choice can use those ED rounds, a route UF doesn't provide.
Source: University of Miami Common Data Set 2025-2026. Figures transcribed 2026-06-07. In-State Cost and Out-of-State Cost are from the 2024-2025 edition. Esslo aggregates publicly reported data and is not affiliated with Miami. Banner photo by Harrier233, via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain).
Source: University of Florida Common Data Set 2025-2026. Figures transcribed 2026-08-20. Esslo aggregates publicly reported data and is not affiliated with Florida. Banner photo by Ebyabe, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0).