Colleges Compete for Most Beautiful Campus While Students Compete for Summer Jobs
KEY POINTS
- •Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama, founded in 1830 by Bishop Michael Portier, features azaleas and an 18-hole golf course.
- •University of Alaska Fairbanks, spanning 2,250 acres, includes the Museum of the North, celebrated for architecture inspired by glaciers and auroras.
- •UC Berkeley and University of Colorado Boulder offer historic campuses with French Beaux-Arts and Tuscan Vernacular Revival architectural styles, respectively.
Summer is ending, and while most students mourn lost ice cream socials tied to summer jobs, the fortunate will trade that for staring at pink azaleas at Spring Hill College (founded 1830 by Mobile’s first Catholic bishop, Michael Portier). Meanwhile, Jimmy Buffett’s old flame Margie got hitched in its St. Joseph Chapel in 1969—probably a louder scene than any today’s lectures. Across Alaska, UAF's Museum of the North thinks it’s an alpine glacier and aurora all grown up, snagging 2018 Architectural Digest kudos. Berkeley’s campus drama featured a dead architects’ beauty pageant with Emile Bénard winning but refusing the crown, so John Galen Howard (fourth place) got stuck in. Meanwhile, Colorado’s university showed off red roofs and Tuscan Vernacular Revival style—a fancy way of saying they didn’t want to settle for just boring old bricks.
Share the Story
(1 of 3)Americans pick college campuses based on architecture so scenic it distracts from the existential dread of post-grad life. Because if you’re doomed, you might as well have palm trees and pink azaleas while contemplating it.
When universities spend more on botanical gardens than mental health, you know we’ve perfected life’s priorities.
The biggest test for these colleges: can their historic brick buildings drown out the cries of broke students?
Source: Businessinsider | Published: 8/7/2026 | Author: Priyanka Rajput,Kristine Villarroel
More Articles in US News
Couple's Monthly Money Dates Outlast Most Marriages, Arguments Optional
Senate GOP Struggles to Confirm Attorney General Because Math Is Hard
America’s Job Market Takes Summer Vacation, Forgets to Bring Work
Trump Endorses Candidate Amid Allegations; Birthright Citizenship Gets Another Reboot
Meta Ordered To Pay $942M For Turning Kids Into Screen Zombies
90% of Americans Now Sweating So Much They’re Questioning Life Choices
Marine One Nearly Gives Reagan Airport a Helicopter Hug, FAA Panics
