It’s been a year of hard, and bad, news. After hearing about terrorist attacks, anthrax, and stock-market swings, we’re ready to do what we enjoy most at Florida Leader magazine. It’s time for our "Best of Florida Schools" issue, time to let Florida’s colleges and universities shine. This year, we feature the success stories from Florida’s public, private, and community colleges.

Our 19-year tenure as the premier student leadership magazine allows us to review the achievements happening on Florida campuses. For our 13th annual "Best of Florida Schools" awards, we proudly choose to focus on the outstanding achievements of student leaders and their college’s faculty and administration. No scandals, no tell-alls, no career-ending scoops—we’re here to celebrate the successes, improvements, and achievements happening in our great state.

This year, our editors and staff writers culled stories from nominations sent through fax, e-mail, and regular mail to find what schools were most proud of. We read through college newspapers, press releases, and letters. What we have now is the best of the best—107 categories to tell you about the finest in the state. It’s an honor for us to present our findings for the best Student Government, the best campus newspaper, the best new club...even the best toilet paper. See our expanded coverage and exclusive categories on our web site at www.floridaleader.com.

Each year, the hardest decision is choosing the best from each school. Student leaders try to out-do the previous administrations and accomplishments, which makes great news for our "Best of Florida Schools" issue, but most importantly, improves the quality of the entire student population’s educational experience. Our staff enjoys giving a pat on the back to all the campus leaders, newspaper staffs, lobbyists, coordinators, officers, and club members who look beyond themselves to serve the school they attend. They deserve the recognition for all their hard work, and you can get inspired from their innovations, efforts, and ideas.

There’s never a wrong time to submit nominations for the 2003 "Best of Florida Schools" issue. Just contact our editorial team toll-free at 1-888-547-6310, or e-mail us at info@studentleader.com, or download applications for the 2003 awards at Florida Leader’s web site, www.floridaleader.com.