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Polk State College: Rankings, Admissions, Cost & Majors

170 awards Ranking Badges
Fair Price Value for Your Money
6% Student Loan Default Rate

Polk State College is a public institution in Winter Haven, Florida enrolling 7,180 undergraduates. It has an on-time graduation rate of 35%, near the national average of 33%. College Factual ranks it #1,200 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in its 2027 Best Colleges ranking (top 23%), and its Value for Your Money analysis rates it a Fair Price.

Source: IPEDS 2025; College Scorecard July 2026; College Factual rankings 2027. Data as of: July 2026.

How Is Polk State College Ranked?

Polk State College ranks #1,200 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges ranking, placing it in the top 23%.

#1,200 Best Colleges in Nation
#34 Best Colleges in FL
Polk State College ranking badge

2027 Rankings

College Factual analyzes over 2,000 colleges and universities in its annual rankings and ranks them in a variety of ways, including most diverse, best overall quality, best for non-traditional students, and much more.

Polk State College was awarded 170 badges in the 2027 rankings.

Overall Quality

College Factual ranked Polk State as #1,200 out of 5,159 colleges and universities in the country on its 2027 Best Colleges list.

Polk State is also ranked #34 on the Best Colleges in Florida list.

See all of the rankings for Polk State College.

Is It Hard to Get Into Polk State College?

Acceptance Rate

Learn more about Polk State College admissions.

What Is the Student-to-Faculty Ratio at Polk State College?

19 to 1 Student to Faculty
39% Full Time Teachers

Student to Faculty Ratio

The student to faculty ratio at Polk State College is 19 to 1, which is high when compared to the national average of 15 to 1. This may indicate that some of your classes will be larger in size than they would be at other schools. However, upper level classes will probably be smaller.

Percent of Full-Time Faculty

Another measure that is often used to estimate how much access students will have to their professors is how many faculty members are full-time. The idea here is that part-time faculty tend to spend less time on campus, so they may not be as available to students as full-timers.

The full-time faculty percentage at Polk State College is 39%. This is lower than the national average of 47%.

Full-Time Faculty Percent  39 out of 100
0
100

What Are the Graduation and Retention Rates at Polk State College?

35% On-Time Graduation Rate

Graduation Rate

The on-time graduation rate is the percent of first-time, full-time students who get their bachelor’s degree within four years. At Polk State this rate is 35%, which is about average when compared to the national rate of 33.3%.

On-Time Graduation Rate  35 out of 100
0
100

Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at Polk State College.

How Diverse Is Polk State College?

7,180 Undergraduate Students
40.2% Racial-Ethnic Minorities*
63.1% Percent Women

The current enrollment includes 7,180 undergraduates at Polk State.

Get more detailed information on the diversity at Polk State College.

How Much Does Polk State College Cost?

$17,140 Net Price
6% Take Out Loans
$14,184 Total Student Loans

The typical net cost at Polk State is $17,140. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group. The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid. Note that the net price is typically less than the published price for a school. For more information on the sticker price of Polk State, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.

Student Loan Debt

Almost 66% of college students who graduated with the class of 2018 took out student loans, but that percentage varies from school to school. At Polk State, approximately 6% of students took out student loans averaging $3,546 a year. That adds up to $14,184 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate is 6.1%. Although this is lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, you’ll still want to keep this in mind when taking out student loans. Get more details about paying for Polk State College.

How Much Do Polk State College Graduates Earn?

$40,624 Avg Salary of Grads
Low Earnings Boost

Although some majors pay more than others, students who graduate from Polk State College with a bachelor’s degree go on to jobs where they make an average salary of $40,624 in their early years. This is about 17% less than the average pay for college graduates overall. However, graduates with your major may make more. Average Salary for Polk State College Graduates

See which majors at Polk State College make the most money.

Where Is Polk State College Located?

Florida State
7,180 Undergraduate Students
Small City Campus Setting

Polk State College is an public institution found in Winter Haven, Florida. The location of the school is great for students who enjoy the amenities of city life. Get more details about the location of Polk State College.

Location of Polk State College

Contact information for Polk State College can be found below.

Contact Details
Address: 999 Avenue H NE, Winter Haven, FL 33881-4299
Phone: 8632971000
Website: www.polk.edu

What Majors Does Polk State College Offer?

12 Majors With Completions
3,508 Undergraduate Degrees

In the latest year of available data, students from 12 majors graduated from Polk State College. The following table lists the most popular undergraduate majors along with the average salary graduates from those majors make.

Most Popular Majors Completions Average Salary of Graduates
Multi-Disciplinary Studies 1,754 NA
Liberal Arts General Studies 762 $23,837
Business Administration & Management 248 $36,616
Criminal Justice & Corrections 234 $30,427
Nursing 197 $60,284
Allied Health Professions 110 $47,233
Teacher Education Grade Specific 40 NA
Air Transportation 26 NA
Accounting 26 NA
Health/Medical Admin Services 22 NA

Learn more about the majors offered at Polk State College along with which ones have the highest average starting salaries.

Does Polk State Offer Online Classes?

113% Take At Least One Class Online
57% Take All Classes Online

8,105 students took at least one online class at Polk State College.

Online learning is becoming popular at even the oldest colleges and universities in the United States. Not only are online classes great for returning adults with busy schedules, they are also frequented by a growing number of traditional students.

Learn more about online learning at Polk State College.

Want to see how other colleges compare to Polk State? Pit them head to head with College Combat, our free interactive tool that lets you compare colleges on the features that matter most to you.

Notes and References

Footnotes

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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