A SEC school is a university that is a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. The SEC was first formed in 1933 with ten members: Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Tennessee, and Vanderbilt. Currently, the SEC consists of 14 universities, including the flagship public universities of ten states, three additional public land-grant universities, and one private research university. The SEC participates in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I in sports competitions, and for football, it is part of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A.
While SEC schools are known for their big-time sports programs, they also offer a combination of excellent academics and school spirit, often at an affordable price. SEC schools have a wide variety of majors and activities to choose from, and students can expect major employers to actively recruit on campus for interns and graduates. The SEC Academic Consortium (SECAC) was formed in 2005 to support and promote the non-athletic accomplishments of the SEC, including both faculty and students. The SECAC also has an agreement that allows SEC engineering students to study abroad in Torino, Italy.
