I asked this question once before after touring the University of Limerick. And once again, my answer is a resounding ‘YES!’ Though I quickly realized it was a college my husband I would love to attend more than one that would be suitable for our daughter.
I love this fountain designed to resemble a plunging sword.
This small, historic, liberal arts college is absolutely gorgeous, and that’s no surprise. It’s the former Ponce De Leon hotel that was the creation of Henry Flagler, who partnered with John Rockefeller to create Standard Oil. The rich, elegant hotel was a home-away-from-home retreat for elite guests who spent $100,000 to spend a season at this grand hotel. Much of that luxury remains despite the fact that in 1968 the hotel was converted into a women’s college. (Now co-ed.) Imagine walking into a school lobby that looks like this:
Or a dining hall (still used today!) that looks like this:
It’s like something out of Harry Potter!
You probably don’t realize that you’re looking at the world’s largest actively used collection of Tiffany glass. All of these leaded windows are Tiffany and they are gorgeous. Some of the chairs in the dining hall hail back 1200 years as well. It felt like something out of a fairytale, or Hogwarts. My husband and I started to wonder whether it was too late for us to go back and earn another degree just so we could dine here every day.
All of the windows are Tiffany glass.
The ceiling and more Tiffany-glass windows.
Our tour guide, Matt, a history student at Flagler, took us into the former women’s parlor where they still hold small events and receptions. Here we saw more Tiffany glass; this time in the form of Tiffany chandeliers set against a robin’s-egg blue ceiling. Does that color look familiar? Yep — it was the inspiration for those Tiffany-blue boxes that so many women covet.
The school was stunning. The fountain, the architecture, the rotunda, and that gorgeous dining hall. We had to ask: how much would a Flagler College education cost? Matt said it’s about $25,000/year including tuition, room and board. And Flagler is committed to keeping class sizes small. They have about 2700 students in total.
It sounded ideal. My husband and I tried to convince my daughter to keep this school in mind (despite the fact that it doesn’t offer engineering as a major). We would be all too happy to come to St. Augustine to visit her on campus. She ignored us. This probably isn’t the school for her. And we already have our degrees. I guess the only way we’ll get to spend more days here is to have another child and write his/her college essay before he/she knows otherwise.
Or, we could just take another tour.
Could you imagine yourself being a student here?
Browsing The Atlas 
Wow, what a place to study indeed! Can’t imagine not feeling inspired there! Sounds like your daughter needs a bit more convincing though. 😉
I know! What is wrong with her?! 😉
Thanks for the college tour. What a blast! It really would be a little like going to Hogwart’s!
I think so, too. I feel like magical things could happen there.
What a stunning place! I’d be too distracted to study!
I like to think I’d feel extra smart sitting there. 🙂
Sounds like a bargain for such a great place to study – especially liberal arts, what a great deal! Thanks for sharing, I love that sword fountain too, how cool! ♥♥♥ ;^)
I know. I love the fountain and the frogs in a circle around it. The whole place was exquisite.
Haha! TOTALLY Harry Potter!
I don’t know if I’d be able to concentrate on regular school curriculum there. I’d probably be exploring every corner, touching everything, then hiding in a corner with my laptop writing novels. : )
Exactly. It’s perfect. 😉
That is one seriously classy-looking school! And that dining hall! I’ve seen the one at Oxford that inspired the dining hall in Harry Potter and though impressive, I think I might just like this one a little better. Good thing your daughter isn’t as easily distracted by the school’s looks. 😉
It makes me wonder if she’s really mine. 😉
Wonderful buildings. Well if someone would pay my fees and they’d accept an old fool to study Sports Management and Creative Writing I’d be off to Florida tomorrow.
They’d be lucky to have you, Roy. 🙂
What an amazing place. It’s difficult to believe that it’s a college. I think it would be a very creatively inspiring place to study. Maybe you can set up a scholarship and sponsor an aspiring liberal arts student !!
Haha. I don’t even know how we’re going to pay for my daughter’s college expenses. We have 4 years to figure it out.
Seems enchanting Juliann! I would be too distracted to study 🙂
I’m reeling at the price tag a bit because it costs nearly that much for an international school here – and that’s without room and board. Sigh. No wonder people send their kids to boarding school overseas so often!
And the Harry Potter dining room is such a bonus!
It’s so hard to compare costs. When I was in Ireland, the cost of school there seems so low, if you’re a citizen. Likewise here in the States if you’re a citizen of a certain state and go to a state school. Even then, it varies. California residents get practically free education at California colleges. Not so in Ohio. But public state school versus private school tuitions are very different. And then there are Ivy League schools… Sigh.
True – there are a lot of subsidies around. I guess I was assuming no subsidies.