Rollins College, founded in 1885 in the city of Winter Park, Florida USA. The college was founded by Lucy Cross and the Congregational Church as a coeducational place of higher learning. The first graduates received their bachelor’s degrees in 1890, and the university grew rapidly following its founding. Rollins is officially the oldest higher education institution in the state of Florida and has stayed true to its founding principles of independence, non-sectarianism and coeducation. The college is named after Alonzo Rollins, a businessman from Chicago whose early donations allowed the college to be built. The college also received financial aid from one of the wealthy businessmen who helped to found the suburb of Winter Park as a resort town also in 1855. Rollins celebrated its 125th birthday in 2010 and to this day the university continues to be among the very top-ranked liberal arts institutions in the southern USA.

Rollins college is a private institution with upwards of 3,000 students enrolled studying a range of academic options at undergraduate and postgraduate level. There are around 30 majors available for undergraduates and master’s degrees in areas such as business, education and human resources. Academic programs are grouped into four colleges: College of Arts and Sciences; College of Professional Studies; Crummer Graduate School of Business; and Hamilton Holt School (previously the school of continuing education).

Rollins campus covers 70 acres and is home to the college’s numerous residential, academic and administrative buildings. There are also an array of sports and leisure facilities as well as the college library, art museum, theatre and chapel.