The University of West Florida

The University of West Florida seems only interested in making money for itself, and the happiness and success of the students comes in as a far behind second. The administrative faculty of the school show no regard for the quality of the students' experiences. On several occasions, I have felt completely RIPPED OFF by the school. Many of the school's contracts are written in such a way as to support this. My attempt to move into campus housing left me $150 short (due to the down payment) because I didn't realize that the school reserves the right to house you wherever it chooses (at whatever price) regardless of your choice in housing. Frankly, I didn't agree with the living conditions they chose for me, so I lost that money.

The University Commons (which houses the cafeteria and grill) is another place that rips students off. On many occasions I have been overcharged there. Once, I purchased a 12" sub there and was charged for two 6" subs because they cut it in half! The other day, the clerk rang up the combo items indivdually, instead of as a combo. Both transactions resulted in around a $1 difference. When pointing out these obvious mistakes (well, the sub charge was done intentionally) on their part, they are never polite about correcting the mistake.

As for security on the school, you will never find patrol officers watching over the poorly lit parking lots at night. They'll be busy waiting in speed traps waiting for you to leave. The school's security is unparalleled in its pursuit of traffic and parking fines. Doing 32 in a 30mph zone will have them flashing their lights at you. This happened to me , and they were waiting at the bottom of a HILL. Once, when my car was in the shop and I was running late, I borrowed someone elses car. Unfortuately, her car didn't have a decal, and running late I didn't think to stop by the visitor's center (on the other size of a rather large campus) to pick up a temporary decal. With 15 minutes the car had been ticketed with a $20 no decal fine. The police were completely uncaring about my situation, even though I had paid for a valid decal on another car, and could prove it went into the shop. The police there are ruthless and heartless to students.

The only decent part of the school, in my opinion, is my department. The department of Computer Science has some wonderful teachers (as well as several, unavoidable duds). Unfortuately, the counselor for department is horrible. Recently, there has been talk that the department will be disbanded. The only good thing about this school is about to be broken up.

I would highly recommend the neighboring community college, Pensacola Junior College, to anyone in the area. But for higher education, go anywhere but UWF.

2nd Year Male -- Class 2003

Education Quality: A-, Individual Value: F