The University of West Florida Reviews

  • 35 Reviews
  • Pensacola (FL)
  • Annual Tuition: $19,241
83% of 35 students said this degree improved their career prospects
77% of 35 students said they would recommend this school to others
Start Your Online College Search:

Student & Graduate Reviews

GraduateFromUwf
  • Reviewed: 12/10/2023
  • Degree: Criminal Justice
"This school does NOT care about its students. You are just a number and many of the staff will make that abundantly clear. Like pigs through a factory. There are some good professors here, but the staff will always protect each other and not you. Even through poor behavior. I do NOT recommend this university ."
Tina
  • Reviewed: 3/4/2023
  • Degree: Social Work
"This is my second semester and I’m going to withdraw. The professors are condescending, rude and mean! They have no lectures and they can’t answer a simple question. Don’t get back to emails and if you have a question about an assignment. They just say “reread the assignment!” They don’t want you to succeed, they are lazy and nasty! Don’t go here!"
Susie Lou
  • Reviewed: 1/7/2023
  • Degree: Nursing
"Don’t go to the BSN program if you are considering it. It does not care for its students and only cares about tenure. Had a horrible experience overall with faculty and the curriculum. It’s a division II NCAA school yet the professors in the BSN program have standards/culture of an ivy league school."
Mel
  • Reviewed: 4/4/2022
  • Degree: Social Work
"The social work department at this university is terrible. I currently have two instructors that will not respond to emails regarding class instruction. One professor has completely stopped showing up to class and has left us all hanging. Another one is sloppy with dealing with student requests. I am paying a lot of money to attend this school, I feel like the education should be much better."
Anonymous
  • Reviewed: 6/2/2021
  • Degree: Nurse Practitioner (Family)
"The Nurse Practitioner program at The University of West Florida is online and self-taught. There were essentially no powerpoint slides, no lectures, no topics overview, no study review, no knowledge points to bring focus to the readings. The textbooks readings were not helpful for the details in the questions on the quizzes and exams. It was also full time and required a lot of hours involved. But those hours were primarily spent in participating in discussion questions. For example you might have had 2 courses at a time in a semester and each course you were preparing to learn the material but you were also spending time reading posts, responding to posts, and reading scholarly articles to support those posts; you have to spread posts out over the posting period (approx. a week) to hopefully produce quality in depth discussion (which was questionably accomplished at best). However, the time spent on posts averaged 1.5-3 hours per post for a single class for a minimum of 3 days per week about 6-9 hours on posts alone per week and barely some of that time helps with understanding the reading material. Essentially, the posts felt more like busy work and did not seem very efficient or helpful when you could have a virtual meeting at variable times offered and discuss the topics real time and have some guided discussion in a fraction of the time spent trying to make asynchronous posts. Now for studying topics such as assessment, Maternal-child, pharmacology, etc- there were no powerpoints provided and if they were, it was likely the powerpoint supplied with the instructor version of the textbook which had basic one-three word comments with no depth. It is hard to extrapolate points of focus from that. In my assessment, ambiguity and no focus or true facilitation may be effective, to some degree, for a master's level theory degree, however, it is far from effective for a master's level applied science degree that requires expounding on knowledge points. I would think coursework would reflect a smaller portion of time on theory and more time on integrating science application and scenarios that specifically help with applied principles of evidence-based practice for the various medical conditions. Therefoe, unless you plan to attend a program just to self-study through the NP degree to be eligible to sit for your boards, please be sure to ask the educators at this school and others plenty of deliberate and explicit questions about the teaching methods, assessment methods, and student expectations before applying or enrolling. Maybe even request to shadow a student in the online course or something. I don't think online means no clarity and purposefully guided instruction, neither does master's level. Other that the above comments, everyone speaks nicely and interacts nicely and they're courteous. But nice is not helpful when you need Master's level education in nurse practitioner studies. Good Luck."
Previous Grad Student
  • Reviewed: 4/22/2021
  • Degree: Environmental Science
"If you attend UWF at either undergraduate or graduate level, you will gain only what you actively pursue beyond sitting through powerpoint-laden lectures and basic lab exercises. I was lucky in realizing this at an early stage of my time served there, and so I was able to find ways to access extracurricular experiences (research opportunities, to be specific) to make myself marketable. While attending courses in the EES department at UWF, I have a particularly unsavory memory of being chastised and dismissed by an actual professor for using the term "sustainable" in a discussion about impacts of industry. This is one of several rather unpleasant memories. Do with that what you will."
Anonymous
  • Reviewed: 3/21/2021
  • Degree: Social Sciences
"When it comes to picking a College its a big decision and is not to be taken lightly. I did a lot of research before I picked this school. For my degree path (archaeology) it is a really good choice. Its also ranked 1st in the nation for Underwater Archaeology beating out Texas A&M. But for other degrees its not the best place to go. I used to get so perplexed when I would be at a function on UWF campus and students I would talk to would say things like, "well nobody chooses to go to UWF, its just the one they get into." This was always so baffling to me because I chose UWF and so did everyone else in my Major. So my stressor here is do your research. I loved this school and it provided me excellent guidance to entering my degree field and still have a job where I can say I use my degree. I would totally recommend this school to those looking to be an Archaeologist. But this school is not for everyone. Don't be one of those people who do not want to be there, I'm sure that makes the whole experience disappointing and is probably a waste of time and money."
Jennifer
  • Reviewed: 11/30/2020
  • Degree: Biomedical Sciences
"I regret going to this university every single day. They are greedy, unhelpful, and rude. I’ve only had 3 professors in my entire 4 years that are any good. You have slim to no chance of getting any financial assistance but the university will send you countless emails asking for handouts and financial donations. I thought I’d save money coming to this school but wish I’d gone to Florida instead. My cousin graduated recently and they held his diploma for 6 months, claiming they’d mail it out the following day several times. Eventually he had to go up there and pick it up because the staff is incompetent. I wish I’d never given a dime to this school."
Logan M.
  • Reviewed: 12/29/2019
  • Degree: Communications
"UWF is a great state university with lots of options in STEM-related fields as well as social sciences. I was a Communications major and the faculty helped me to realize what I wanted to do as a career. However, faculty is way more helpful for career advice than actual Career Services. They don't take into account individual fields with their advice. There are plenty of financial options but you have to look for them yourself, Financial Aid doesn't let you know about opportunities themselves."
Desoray Graham
  • Reviewed: 8/17/2019
  • Degree: Accounting
"The University of West Florida is a small private school that has a place for everyone. This is a relatively small school therefore, you'll probably have the same professors' multiple times. This was one of my favorite things about the school because you can then develop relationships with people who understand the career you are moving towards and can help you in your process. The food is standard, it's no better than any other but the library was full of helpful staff. The amount of resources available at the school was amazing. Textbooks were supplied at the library for checkout so if you can't afford books, they were available. There were multiple resources available to students. There is a writing lab that will proof read any paper to make sure they are grammatically correct. This center also offered lessons every week to help increase students writing skills. There is also a career center that will help connect the students to opportunities and will have staff available to "grade" your resume. This school has many activities that are open to students to help socialization. There are a variety of clubs that cater to everyone. There was a Harry Potter club and a sailing club. This school was small but was very diverse. The instructors took time to have office hours to help students in need and the school also had a pantry that was available to students who were in need. Overall UWF is a small, public university that is slowly growing in popularity and diversity."
AH
  • Reviewed: 6/18/2019
  • Degree: Marketing
"I was lied to about what my degree would entail. I was required to take more management classes than actual marketing classes, and I have been left completely unprepared for the workforce. The only thing good that came out of my time at UWF was when I studied at a different school abroad. The advisers are an absolute joke who almost never do their job. There isn't a single redeeming feature about UWF except for a single teacher, Dr. Morgan. 90of requirements for jobs, even in entry-level positions, have not been taught, and many I have never even heard of. This school is a complete and absolute joke. STAY AWAY!"
Matt
  • Reviewed: 5/12/2019
  • Degree: MBA
"I did an online MBA. The Staff is helpful, the program has an independent counselor call and checks on my progress and mental well being every semester. The workload is very tough if you go full time, even for the online program. I had to go half time so that I did not become overwhelmed by the amount of work to do. The instruction is great, the pace is fast, but not unreasonable. I recommend trying it, but if you work and need to do it at night online, be aware, it is a full MBA course, it is designed for people who attend class, and have no other commitments, that is why I had to slow down to half time, and it was still a lot of very late nights, due to the amount of work needed in a short amount of time."
Amorrouge
  • Reviewed: 8/10/2018
  • Degree: Information Technology
"Absolutely appreciated the opportunity to study at thito school. There were great schools in my area that taught engineering programs,, but I needed to go back to school, work and had little time to commute to and from school. This was one of the first colleges offering a convenient yet regionally accredited degree program. I ably wish there was more direction from the school after graduation because I was lost and did not utilize my degree to its potential. I am not blaming the school, but all colleges and universities have a unique position to have the workforce pulse and share its knowledge with graduates to help these students solidify a success career."
Anonymous
  • Reviewed: 9/1/2017
  • Degree: Health Sciences
"I loved this college! I finally discovered my passion for Exercise Science and the professors and students were amazing."
Anonymous
  • Reviewed: 5/22/2017
  • Degree: Mathematics
"A good mix of big college and smaller more personal college"
Ryan
  • Reviewed: 3/6/2017
  • Degree: Psychology
"My time at UWF was amazing, I was able to pursue a degree in Psychology and Criminal Justice and graduate with both degrees in 4 years. The professors across all majors are extremely bright and are motivated to help their students achieve their goals. If you become involved on campus, networking becomes easy, and student life is great. I thoroughly recommend the University of West Florida."
Rich A
  • Reviewed: 1/3/2017
  • Degree: History
"Great school, small but growing. The campus is beautiful, pretty close to the beach, and not overcrowded. Great professors and TAs, everyone is always willing to help you."
Makala Diggs
  • Reviewed: 9/26/2016
  • Degree: Exercise Science
"So far I have enjoyed my time at the University of West Florida. The class sizes are small but you get more one on one time with your professors. The faculty really cares about how the students perform and will do anything to help you be successful. I would highly recommend this school to anyone who wants to pursue a higher education."
Matthew A. Pardo
  • Reviewed: 8/26/2016
  • Degree: Psychology
"UWF provides a great education at a great student to professor ratio; it's a real diamond in the rough. Not many of the other state schools in Florida can provide the learning atmosphere that UWF provides due to its small class sizes and really caring professors. Rather than feeling like a number, professors really went out of their way to provide any help if requested."
Anonymous
  • Reviewed: 7/22/2016
  • Degree: Social Sciences
"The college offers the courses you need. The schedule and classes at off campus sites are very limited."