Disclaimer: my criticism is directed entirely towards the dining hall. It is incredibly rare that i have a decent experience while dining here. I have fallen victim to food poisoning multiple times, options are slim, and it is very dirty. i once witnessed a worker wiping counter tops off with a dirty rag and then proceeding to wipe the top of a "clean" plate off with the same rag. if you must eat here, don't think too much about where your food comes from. additionally, the menu is brief and repetitive. it is difficult to find a healthy option and if you do, it takes a bit of innovation with the low quality ingredients you are given. the food that is served is insanely greasy and flavors are minimal. with the new dining hall just having opened, i certainly got my hopes up. i was very much let down. if anything, it is worse. the setup is entirely unplanned and inconvenient and while it looks there are more options, do not let that fool you. they omitted the waffle bar (a fan favorite) and they tend to falsely advertise the cereal. they always run out of necessities and fail to replace them. food is either undercooked or incredibly dry. they scam you by forcing you to be a part of the meal plan if you live on campus housing (at least your first year). this must be stopped. food is inedible and you will be spending your money on food elsewhere. we must take a stand against this. who's with me? read more

My daughter is only a freshman and has already experienced so many issues. Here is a breakdown of the bigger ones: A roommate that was harassing her and threatening suicide (and even checked herself into a mental ward), and my daughter received no help from the faculty in handling the situation. Eventually the roommate moved out yet continued to harass her to the point of needing a no contact order. No faculty whatsoever has checked on her to make sure she is ok (or the roommate to my knowledge, who is still on campus and has gone through this again with another girl). The stress from this incident alone affected her grades and health. She was sick for a few weeks; she did a deep clean of her room and there was mold in the vents! Staff is not good about returning calls. Tuition is extremely high, yet for "family weekend" you still need to pay $75 per person to participate. You get some "freebies" (towel, sticker, pen), 1 hors d'oeuvre, 1 meal, boat ride if you're there early enough and weather cooperates and after doing their swim test, you can watch an already free athletic event or two, meet the faculty, a couple other minor things I'm forgetting. Keep in mind most families are already paying money to also travel to get there and a place to stay for the weekend. Most recently my daughter has been dealing with a lost package. The mailroom contacted her to let her know she had a package. She went to retrieve it, and they couldn't find it but said their system shows it's there. They said to give it a week because they had just gotten back from break and it was busy. She went back, same story, they show they have it but can't find it. She then receives an email stating they had it and it was in their locker that they give you a code to open. She went, opened it, it was empty. Again, they said it's there and they'll find it. I finally contacted student affairs, and they said they would look into it and get back to me. I didn't hear back so 2 weeks later I'm calling again and the mailroom person that they were supposedly contacting had no knowledge of the situation. I explained it, he gave excuses that they probably didn't receive the package because they don't show her receiving anything during that time. So... I read him the emails from them saying they had it and forwarded him the emails, he said it was a new system, and it was glitching. So... I send him the UPS tracking showing it was delivered to the school. We shall see what I hear back now. Lastly, lots of parties on campus, apparently nudity and drinking is ok. Topless on the beach as well. All good, if you are aware that's what you're getting into. My daughter was 17 until just a month ago, making her a minor. They do have security at the parties, I suppose for safety. (Check Eckerd's Almost Friday Instagram.) My daughter so wants to be at that school and keeps muddling through the crap because she likes the campus, the location, and she has made some really great friends. This is where she wanted to be. But it's getting harder to reconcile this decision to stay because for the money, the size of school, and all of the claims they tout when recruiting, you expect better. You deserve better. read more

The check in process here was amazing. They have been so organized with emails and even during the move in too. They made sure the students and parents felt welcome and assisted us to make sure we were not lost. Thank you! read more

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Best college campus! Both my kids had stellar summer experiences! I hope they apply to attend school here!

I'm graduating in May '23 and I hope no one goes to this college until it has sorted itself out. There's MAJOR communication disconnect between staff and students. I've been living with mold in my dorm for the past two years. No amount of reporting it, or requesting maintenance does any good. I have had friends get kicked out of their dorms because of BLACK MOLD. At one point it was in the walls in Iota complex. Students are ticketed unfairly and inconsistently for parking rules that seem to change based on the security officer giving them out. They aren't supposed to ticket over weekends or spring break, but they do it anyway. The food is horrendous and will give you indigestion. If you have celiac disease, good luck. People have had reactions to "gluten free" dishes because of cross contamination. I have just about every dietary restriction under the sun, and came here under the guise that there would be plenty of food variety available for me. For four years i've been living off of my microwave and air fryer because no stomach ache from the Cafe is worth it. The AC doesn't work in the dorms, mine hasn't worked for an entire semester. Maintenance doesn't always come and when they do they don't always fix the problem. We've had them come NINE TIMES to fox our AC and they haven't fixed it even once. If something horrible happens to you the Title IX system doesn't work AT ALL and people accused get to go about their lives normally, even if they've been accused multiple times. If their parents donate money or they play a sport, nothing happens to them. Students tried to plead their case to the last president and he didn't care. The utopia the few other reviews mentioned hasn't existed since pre-COVID (which eckerd handled extremely poorly too. im glad no one has to experience that again). it truly is the people, not the place. if you're living off campus you can avoid most of the things i've mentioned, but there's a thing we like to call "The Eckerd Bubble" which means people get sort of trapped on campus and don't really leave. If you're thinking about coming here, I encourage you to take a tour and talk to STUDENTS. not faculty, not tour guides, STUDENTS about everything i've mentioned. if you still think it's the right school for you, i wish you the best of luck and i BEG you to KEEP ECKERD WEIRD!! read more

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I like to visit colleges to see the campus and buildings. Eckerd has a lovely sprawling waterfront campus off 275 before the Sunshine Skyway bridge on the road to the Don Cesar and st Pete Beach. The campus is undergoing a major building project including wetlands construction. There is a cool spacey looking church. A science building, music building with open courtyard at its center, and dorm buildings. The college has an environmental science and marine science focus. Extrscurriculars include a sailing program and watersports. It woukd be great if they improved the landscaping with more natives, butterfly friendly plantings and fruit trees. Live a lil. I enjoyed walking around and exploring. They have free international cinema shiwings Fridays and other community events that are ooen to the public. Definitely a St. Pete gem and they seem to be building for the future ubder good leadership. read more

Great private college. I graduated several years ago. The previous reviews are upsetting to me. This school, at the time, had kids who smoked pot. With that said, I have never spoken to a college graduate who did not encounter other students who liked to smoke pot. It's a reality of college life and is definitely not exclusive to this school. Furthermore, I never did any drugs during my time there. It's a personal choice. Responsibility should be placed on the individual, not the school. Additionally, I feel like attention to this drug topic is a distraction from what going to college is truly about...getting an education that prepares you for the career you choose to pursue. This school does just that and more. I have a great job with a great salary. What's more is the importance of giving back this school instills. When I arrived to the school, I was very self-centered, always thinking about what my community should give to me. When I left, I better understood the important role and responsibility I had to my community. 15 years later, I am still giving back. read more

All I can say is OMG. What a wonderful place. It is so beautiful and peaceful. My nephew Tre made a great choice for his future career!!!!!

Every year Eckerd puts on their Environmental Film Festival. All movies are free and frequently include a lecture by the film's director or producer, or one of the faculty. It's an excellent opportunity to see films you might not otherwise see. On this evening, we saw Barry Levinson's, The Bay, a graphic eco-horror film. It was great fun, however, I'm still a little creeped out about eating chicken now :) read more

Eckerd College - Colleges & Universities Near Me - Saint Petersburg, Florida

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Took my niece to Eckerd for an interview because she might want to transfer from her current school in central Pennsylvania. She went on the campus tour and also met with three representatives (one admissions, two professors). She got a good feeling from what she learned about the school, and I think -- with its very good local reputation -- that it will meet her needs. read more

Honestly do not go to this school. Yeah the campus may look great but not only are all the kids either stoners or on some type of drug but all the school wants is money and does not care for its students whatsoever. The tutoring is false advertisement because all they have is kids that don't know what they are doing half the time. The teachers as well at their so called "mentors" all suck and do not know how to do their job. Their academic honor council is straight up bullshit. My roommate got reported for two sentences out of her whole 6 page paper and the school failed her for the whole semester and then when her mom threatened to sue the school they waited till the semester was practically over to finally give her a withdrawal for the class. The people in the register are rude and sit on their a**** all day. Campus safety charges you if you even breathe wrong. It's just an all around bad choice. I regret spending any of my money and time on this school. read more