For some students, college life is a three-ring circus

Dropping out of school to join the circus is no longer necessary. Collegiate circus programs allow students to pursue higher education and high-flying fun.

Clown school co-eds usually go on to pursue traditional professions, rather than join professional circus careers, but their determination distinguishes them from ordinary college students, said Kendall Litton, assistant director of Florida State University's Flying High Circus.

FSU circus members spend 20 to 25 hours every week training for several on-campus shows during the academic year and prep for a summer-term gig they take on the road. Students perform six to seven shows each week in Panama City Beach, Fla., and Pine Mountain, Ga.

"The members are out here because they want to be," Litton said.

Being a member of the Flying High Circus builds skills and relationships that enhance the college experience, Litton said.

"Students will come out and be unsure if they want to join and they end up having the time of their life," she said. "It helps you become a better student . . . It's a development activity."

Serenity Forchion, a New England Center for Circus Arts co-founder, said circuses provide an avenue for children and adults to express themselves while taking part in a recreational activity. Forchion said she works with college student groups, children as young as 18 months old and retired adults looking to hone a hobby.

"Many people who feel like they are left out or unable to integrate into other groups can find a home in the circus," she said.

For the students in Forchion's groups -- ex-ballerinas who have outgrown the industry's ideal body type and gymnasts whose creativity is stifled -- the circus becomes an outlet, she said.

"It is a performance art so it leaves a lot of room for creativity and leaves students a lot of room to express themselves," she said.

For James Hartman, a Hampshire College freshman and first-year member of the school's group Circus Folk Unite!, being part of the circus has been a breakthrough in self-expression. CFU gave Hartman a greater sense of self-respect and motivation, he said.

"Since coming to college and joining the circus here, I've felt accepted like I have nowhere else," he said. "It taught me what I was capable of."

Currently, Hartman's bag of tricks includes stilting, juggling, unicycling and fire-eating, and he said he plans to learn acrobatics next.

Hartman said CFU, like other collegiate circuses popping up around the country, is a place for anyone and everyone.

"We take anyone with an interest and we figure out how we can put them in the show, regardless of background and experience," he said. "People should just join the circus because it's fun. Do they need another reason?"