Sarasota - Manatee: The Collegiate Coast

Graduates from IMG Academy

Graduates from IMG Academy

Sarasota and Manatee Counties are many things to many people.  Both are first class resort communities; with our Gulf Coast beaches consistently ranked among the best in the world. Both are widely celebrated for the astonishing breadth of the visual and performing arts that have justly earned the region its sobriquet as Florida’s “Cultural Coast.” Both are world-class leisure communities too, in which residents can partake of virtually any type of sporting or recreational pastime that doesn’t require cold weather or snow. Recently, as we watched graduating classes at colleges and universities throughout the region rejoice in their academic accomplishments we were reminded that we are very much a “college town” as well. People often don’t think of our region as a hub of higher education because the four major collegiate institutions that make their home here do not claim massive enrollments.  Thus you won’t see the telltale signs of a huge campus.  You won’t see vast expanses of classroom buildings, large university medical centers, football stadiums or sporting arenas.  Nor will you see row-upon-row of fraternity and sorority houses, sprawling campus housing complexes; or other visible mainstays of a large campus. What you will see are smaller, more personalized institutions where the focus is on advancing the academic and career goals of each individual student; and, wherever possible, teaching to the skilled labor force needs of the community. This past spring, the area’s big four colleges and university—New College of Florida, Ringling College of Art & Design, State College of Florida and the University of South Florida Sarasota Manatee—awarded degrees to some 3,000 students.   Two-thirds of those graduating were from the immediate area, living proof that these academic institutions are a valuable local resource. Two years ago—with backing from the Gulf Coast Community Foundation, the Community Foundation of Sarasota County and the Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation—the four schools formed the “C4,” short for Consortium of Colleges on the Creative Coast. In addition to heightening the regions profile as an academic center, the goal of the C4 is to promote innovation and collaboration between these institutions of higher learning, celebrate their academic, student and faculty diversity; and put their combined strengths to work for the good of their students and community at large. Only two years on and the C4 has already instituted a program enabling students at one institution to take courses at another and receive full credit.  Other programs include the potential for foreign study or professional internships with local employers. It has just been reported that Florida’s annual rate of job growth has exceeded the nation’s since as far back as May 2012; and that the Sunshine State is again ranked as the country’s leading job creator.  At roughly the same time, WalletHub ranked Sarasota as Florida’s best city to find a job—out of the 130 cities surveyed statewide.  Bradenton—ranked 21^st—also finished well within the top quartile. While it is premature to link such favorable job growth with the C4 initiative, we believe it will ultimately draw that many more new corporations, businesses and entrepreneurs to Southwest Florida. Relocating businesses have long been drawn to the region for the desirable array of lifestyles and cultural amenities that await their employees, management and families; and that make attracting top-notch employees from outside the area that much easier.   By also highlighting the region’s diverse mix of highly-rated colleges and universities, C4 sweetens the incentive for businesses to relocate here with the promise of a well-educated work force.  Moreover, it offers continuing education opportunities for students of all ages; while providing local high schoolers with an extra inducement to pursue their collegiate educations at home, then remain here after graduation to pursue meaningful careers. To learn more about Sarasota real estate within close reach of our area's many fine institutions visit our website or contact a Michael Saunders & Company agent.