Have you seen our logo recently? We're dog-lovers here at College Rover, plain and simple, and we know that there are a lot of you who feel the same way. But given that so many colleges have rules against keeping pets on campus, college isn't always the right time to get a dog (or bring your favorite pet from home if your folks can stand to live without them!). That's why we wanted to look at colleges that let you bring your furry friend with you on your educational journey.
Each of these schools has different regulations for what pets they allow and when, but they all have a love of animals in common. You might find that your particular pet isn't allowed, but there are still plenty of options for you at any of these schools. So without further ado…
The List
Eckerd College, St. Petersburg, FL
Eckerd College is kind of a celebrity in the world of pet-friendly colleges, and it's no surprise why. Featured on Animal Planet for their uniquely welcoming policies toward pets, Eckerd wants to give their students plenty of freedom to live with their favorite pets, and they're not all that particular when it comes to what pet, exactly, you like to keep around the house. From cats and dogs to ferrets and ducks, they've got you covered. If you've got a small pet, you can apply to bring them onto campus your very first semester, and if you've got a larger pet, you can start bringing them around after your first winter break. They've even got specialty housing just for folks with large animals. And of course, we'd be remiss not to mention their special graduation ceremony just for all of their four-legged students. Cheesy, I know, but you can be honest: don't you want a picture of your dog in a cap and gown?
And as a small school with a generous acceptance rate of 69%, this could be the perfect place to meet other like-minded students who want to live their college life with their favorite pets.
Stephens College, Columbia, MO
While maybe not quite as generous as Eckerd, Stephens College has a more than welcoming approach to animals on their campus. It'll be a bit of a running theme through this list that pets are often allowed only in specific residence halls, and Stephens is no different in this regard. They have two halls that are completely pet-friendly, so if you want to bring your pet, you're going to have to live there. They allow dogs, cats, and any other kind of small pet which can be kept in some kind of enclosure (except for snakes and spiders, unfortunately…), so you've got plenty of options. We imagine they'll turn their noses up at a chimpanzee, but other than that, they're pretty liberal on this point. Oh, one more thing: if you don't get to bring your own pet to campus, they have a program where you can foster pets until they find permanent homes. Perfect if you're trying to see if living with a pet is right for you.
Stephens is also a teeny-tiny school with fewer than 500 students, so it'll be a fairly intimate community with plenty of other pet lovers. It also has an acceptance rate of 64%, making it also fairly accessible for plenty of students who hear the college calling their name.
Lees-Mcrae College, Banner Elk, NC
Lees-Mcrae College has a slightly stricter pet policy than the previous two, but for cats and dogs, it's a winner. The hitch is that you have to wait two semesters before you can bring your pet to campus. Outside of that, though, there are a good number of pet-approved residence halls where you can bring your furry best friend (or your fish, if that's your bag), including the student houses as long as you get approval from your housemates. You'll have to check the regulations to see if your pet is approved (for example, they don't allow certain dog breeds or dogs over 40 pounds), but if you pass the sniff-test on this one, you just might be spending a good chunk of your college career with your dog or cat.
It's becoming a commonality here that pet-friendly campuses tend to be on the smaller side, and Lees-Mcrae is no different. At under 1,000 students, it's smaller than most small liberal arts colleges, and it has another fairly generous acceptance rate of 73%, so it's an attainable goal if you really fall in love with this college.
Stetson University, DeLand, FL
A bit of an anomaly on this list as a larger school (though that's all relative, here), Stetson University down in DeLand, Florida is plenty happy to let you bring your pet on campus as long as you apply. From what we can tell, you can apply to bring your pet from the very first semester and live in one of the pet-approved residence halls. Now, there's no guarantee that you'll be approved to bring your pet (given that it's probably decently competitive as is), but there is an additional option for you: Stetson has a program for students to train service animals. If you can't bring your own pet to campus or simply don't have one of your own, you can apply to train and look after a service animal while you're at college. Probably not quite as comfy a situation as a foster animal, but this could be a more than meaningful relationship with an animal if that's what you're looking for.
Like we said, Stetson is on the bigger side compared to these other schools, but in this case that means it's a school of around 3,000 students rather than 500. Not exactly UT Austin, but Stetson might be just the ticket if one of the other super small schools here isn't your bag.
Reed College, Portland, OR
Reed College has a bit of a hippie reputation, so it makes sense that their pet policy can be pretty accommodating. They don't allow pets outside of a cage in their residence halls and houses (so fish and hamster lovers are good!), but the on-campus apartments do allow for dogs and cats. They have the usual policies in place (weight limits, must be spayed/neutered, can't be aggressive, etc.), so you've got to make sure your animal fits in with all their stipulations, but if they do, you've got a golden opportunity to bring your furry best friend onto campus with you.
Reed is, a bit like Stetson, on the larger end of the schools we've looked at here, with an enrollment of around 1,300 students, putting it within the usual range of smaller liberal arts schools. Its acceptance rate is the lowest on this list, being the first to not admit a majority of applicants at only 42%, but that's still very accessible for most. Reed isn't exactly the most pet-friendly (it's hard to beat Eckerd on that score), but it's still a great option if you want to bring your animal with you.
How College Rover Can Help
You know the spiel by now: there are a lot of factors to consider, you can't think of just your pet, blah blah blah. We'll cut to the chase: College Rover lets you compare all of your top colleges on just about every metric that matters to you. You can compare tuition, size, location, acceptance rate, graduation rate, or anything else that should go into this decision, and we keep track of all of this stuff just for fun. And we can be adults about this: we LOVE our pets! And we want them with us! If any of these colleges have piqued your interest, head on over to College Rover to make this decision a whole lot easier.
