Sarasota County is a county located in Southwest Florida. At the 2020 US census, the population was 434,006. Its county seat is Sarasota and its largest city is North Port. Sarasota County is part of the North Port–Bradenton–Sarasota, FL metropolitan statistical area.

New College of Florida is a public liberal arts college in Sarasota, Florida. The college is a member of the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges. In 2023, the state government of Florida overhauled its board of trustees in an attempt to transform the school into a conservative institution. Since then, nearly 40% of faculty have resigned. New College has the smallest student population in the State University System of Florida with 669 students (2022).