University of Central Florida (UCF)

The University of Central Florida (commonly referred to as UCF) is a university located in Orlando, Florida. UCF is the largest undergraduate school in the state of Florida, the second largest overall, the sixth-largest university in the nation. UCF is a member institution of the State University System of Florida. It was founded in 1963 as Florida Technological University with the goal of providing highly trained personnel to support the Kennedy Space Center, located only 35 miles to the east, and to this day maintains a satellite campus at the Space Center. In 1978 the school was renamed the University of Central Florida as its academic scope had expanded to encompass all academic fields. In 1990, the University of Central Florida founded the Space Education and Research Center and is a member of the NASA Space grant colleges. As of 2008, total enrollment consists of a 50,000 student body seeking bachelor's degrees through doctorates, as well as certificates and specialist degrees. The university is organized into twelve colleges providing nearly 100 separate courses of study with the majority of the population located at the main campus, approximately 13 miles east of downtown Orlando and 55 miles south of Daytona Beach. Since its rapid growth starting in the late 1990s UCF has expanded its influence throughout Florida and now consists of twelve satellite campuses in eastern central Florida. In the Fall of 2006, UCF's admission rate declined drastically from 61% of prospective students admitted to only 46%, as a result of more and more students applying to the university each year. The acceptance rate continued to decline for Fall 2008 when there was a 38% acceptance rate for 25,000 first time in college applications. Freshmen admitted in Fall 2008 posted average SAT scores of 1219, ACT scores of 26 and average high school GPAs of 3.76. UCF's official colors are black and gold, the various sports teams go by the name of Knights and the official mascot is a male gold-armored black knight named Knightro. The UCF academic logo is a Pegasus.