Question about jobs (Tampa, St. Petersburg, Gainesville: low crime, credit, school)

[Woodstocksnoopy]

I am thinking about moving to Florida and was wondering about job opportunities. I work in a college and would like to stay working in higher education (I am not a professor though). I am now living in a small town in NY State, which is very cold. I like the small town feel, low crime rate, everything close, not too much traffic - but I don't know how many more winters I can take. This move would not happen right away, probably not until the end of this year, beginning of next but I like to do my research before moving. Are there many jobs for someone in higher education (I have a college degree)? What are some nice smallish towns that are not too expensive?

[jessiegirl_98]

Here is the one thing that I would consider: funding at public institutions is being drastically slashed! I work at USF and 20% of my department's budget is getting cut (i.e., many support staff and non-tenured professors). The rest of the state is in a similar crunch. This might not be the same for private universities, but even if their funding is OK, you have to consider that a percentage of USF is going to be getting slashed and these individuals will all be looking for new jobs as well!

[tampaguy03]

If your looking for a small town feel and to work in higher education in the Tampa Bay area, maybe St. Leo College, about 45 minutes north of downtown Tampa.

[jessiesma]

Eckerd in St. Pete. SP is a city but it's pretty laid back. Way less intense than Tampa. Also there's St. Petersburg College which used to be the JC but is now 4 year. Stetson Law is in adjoining Gulfport. Stetson's main campus is in De Land over near the East coast. U of FL is in Gainesville and that has a small town feel still. There is something called Everest which used to be Florida Metropolitan. They are an accredited school but specialize in career oriented programs. There are a number of others of this type here. There's even a small seminary that is fully accredited on the undergrad and Master's level in St. Pete.

Originally Posted by tampaguy03

If your looking for a small town feel and to work in higher education in the Tampa Bay area, maybe St. Leo College, about 45 minutes north of downtown Tampa.

[Woodstocksnoopy]

[SIZE=3]Thanks so much for everyone's help. I guess I should also look outside of the college setting and look into for-profit businesses and see what else is there - but I have done Alumni Relations and Fundraising for so long I don't know what else I would do.[/SIZE]