Surf & Ski Colleges
Schools within 10 miles of the ocean AND 50 miles of a ski resort
109 four-year colleges in the United States sit within 10 miles of an ocean beach and within 50 miles of a ski resort. This list ranks the 20 largest by enrollment. Surf in the morning, ski the same weekend: at these schools that is a normal semester, not a bucket-list trip.
The geography does the gatekeeping. Coastline with mountains close behind it exists in only a few regions, so the list runs heavy on California, the Pacific Northwest, and New England. Each row shows both distances, and the sweet-spot schools keep both numbers low at the same time.
Enrollment, admissions, and cost data come from the U.S. Department of Education (IPEDS). Beach and ski distances are CollegeCove proximity measurements from each campus to the nearest ocean beach and ski resort. Click any school for its safety score, costs, and the specific beach and mountain you would be choosing between.
Ranking methodology: Schools must meet both thresholds: within 10 miles of the nearest ocean beach AND within 50 miles of a ski resort. Only 4-year degree-granting institutions are included. Ranked by total enrollment largest-first.
California State University-Long Beach
Long Beach, CA
University of California-Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA
University of California-Irvine
Irvine, CA
Boston University
Boston, MA
Stony Brook University
Stony Brook, NY
Northeastern University
Boston, MA
California State University-Dominguez Hills
Carson, CA
University of Massachusetts-Boston
Boston, MA
CUNY Brooklyn College
Brooklyn, NY
St. John's University-New York
Queens, NY
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA
Berklee College of Music
Boston, MA
Loyola Marymount University
Los Angeles, CA
Sacred Heart University
Fairfield, CT
Tufts University
Medford, MA
Fairfield University
Fairfield, CT
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, MA
Suffolk University
Boston, MA
Emerson College
Boston, MA
Wentworth Institute of Technology
Boston, MA
Frequently Asked Questions
How many surf and ski colleges are there?
109 four-year colleges are within 10 miles of the ocean and 50 miles of a ski resort. This list shows the 20 largest by enrollment; you can find the rest by combining the beach and ski filters on our search page.
Can you actually surf and ski in the same day?
Same weekend is routine at every school on this list. Same day is genuinely possible at the schools where both distances are short and the season cooperates, especially in Southern California and the Pacific Northwest, where spring snow overlaps with surfable swell.
How is this different from the D1 Ski & Beach list?
That list applies the same beach and ski thresholds but only to NCAA Division I schools, which cuts it to 10. This one includes all 109 qualifying four-year schools, so smaller campuses and non-D1 athletic programs make the cut.