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Revision as of 21:16, 25 August 2004
The University of Florida ("UF") is a public university located in Gainesville, Florida. It was founded in Ocala, Florida in 1853, and celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2003. Today, it is the fourth-largest university in the United States, with over 45,000 students; it also has the eighth-largest budget, nearly $1.9 billion a year. Its current president is James Bernard Machen.
Academics
UF is divided into twenty-one colleges, which offer over 100 undergraduate majors and an equally wide array of graduate degrees, including the only dentistry and veterinary medicine programs in the state.
Florida's programs are generally ranked highly among public universities, and the university was ranked as a Top Tier school by US News and World Reports for 2004. The graduate programs in chemistry and tax law, are consistently ranked among the best in the United States. UF's engineering programs are very well-funded, partly from royalties on the sale of Gatorade (a UF invention).
The acceptance rate at UF has slowly fallen over the past decade as more students apply. In 2003, the average incoming freshman had a weighted GPA of 4.0, and an SAT score of 1280. Undergraduate tuition is around $100 per credit for Florida residents, and $460 per credit for out-of-state students, with a typical load of 30 credits per year.
Athletics
The school's sports teams are called the Gators. They compete in the East Division of the Southeastern Conference of the NCAA's Division I-A. Florida has one of the strongest collegiate athletic programs in the United States, and dedicates $44 million each year to its sports teams and facilities.
Football is the most important sport at UF, and the school's football team is typically ranked among the top 25 in the NCAA. Their most recent national championship was at the Sugar Bowl in 1996, under coach Steve Spurrier and quarterback Danny Wuerffel. The Gators under Spurrier were a national powerhouse, and have fallen in the rankings ever since his departure in 2001. Their traditional rivals are the Seminoles of Florida State University, the Volunteers of the University of Tennessee, and the Bulldogs of the University of Georgia: UF usually plays UT in September, FSU in late November, and UGA in late October/early November in what has been billed "The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party".
Basketball is also popular at UF, although it is not quite as popular as football. The UF basketball squad appeared in the 1994 Final Four and lost in the 2000 National Finals to Michigan State. They are currently coached by Billy Donovan, who has been the head coach of the Gators since 1995. Florida's primary men's basketball rival is traditional SEC basketball superpower Kentucky.
Alumni
Famous UF alumni include:
- John Atanasoff, computer engineer
- Faye Dunaway, actress
- Bob Graham, governor, senator, and presidential candidate
- Carl Hiaasen, writer
- Spessard Holland, governor, senator, namesake of Holland & Knight
- Joseph Kittinger, pilot
- Forrest Sawyer, TV news anchorman
- Joe Scarborough, congressman and talk show host
- George A. Smathers, senator and presidential candidate
- Emmitt Smith, football player
- Steve Spurrier, football player and coach
- Bob Vila, DIY show host
- Mike Dugas, US Congressional Candidate (R-California)