Education

Florida's public school revenue per student and spending per $1000 of personal income usually ranks in the bottom 25% of U.S. states. Average teacher salaries rank near the middle of U.S. states.

Florida public schools have consistently ranked in the bottom 25% of many national surveys and average test score rankings. It should be noted that many education surveys are not scientific, but do measure prestige. Governor Jeb Bush has been criticized by many Florida educators for a program that penalizes underperforming schools (as indicated by standardized tests, such as the FCAT) with fewer funding dollars. Major testing organizations frequently discount the use of state average test score rankings, or any average of scaled scores, as a valid metric (see psychometrics for more details on scaled test scores).

In 2000, Governor Bush and the state legislature acted to abolish the Board of Regents that governed the State University System of Florida. Instead, each public university is now controlled by its own Board of Trustees who are directly appointed by the governor. As is typical of executive-appointed government boards, the appointees so far have been overwhelmingly Republican. This has not been without controversy. In 2002, Democratic Senator Bob Graham started a ballot referendum designed to revert to the Board of Regents system Florida, University of, at Gainesville; land-grant and state supported; coeducational; chartered and opened 1853 at Ocala, moved to Gainesville in 1906. The Center for Latin American Studies, the Whitney Marine Laboratory, and the Florida Museum of Natural History are among its research facilities.

The University of Florida, or UF, is a public university located in Gainesville, Florida. Founded in Ocala in 1853, UF is the fourth-largest university in the United States with over 48,000 students. It also has the eighth-largest budget (nearly $1.9 billion per year) and is considered one of the top public universities in the United States, ranking second among public institutions and fourth among all institutions in the number of National Merit Scholar students enrolled. Its current president is Dr. James Bernard "Bernie" Machen.

History

In 1853, the East Florida Seminary is founded in Ocala. During the Civil War, the school closes and upon reopening is moved to Gainesville. In 1895, the Florida Agricultural College at Lake City is founded and changes its name to University of Florida by 1904. The 1905 Buckman Act creates the current University of Florida by consolidating the University of Florida at Lake City, the St. Petersburg Normal and Industrial School at St. Petersburg and the South Florida Military College at Bartow in to one campus at Gainesville. Andrew Sledd from the University of Florida at Lake City becomes the first president and architect William A. Edwards designs the first campus buildings in the collegiate gothic style. The alligator is chosen as the school mascot in 1911.

The Buckman Act established the University of Florida as the only public school in Florida for white males. In 1947, UF began allowing women to enroll. Admission of African-American students began in 1958.

Shands Hospital at UF first opened in 1958 along with the medical school. Rapid campus expansion began in the 1950s and continues to the present. In 1985, UF's status as a major research institution was confirmed by its admission to the presigious Association of American Universities. Current efforts at UF continue to focus on expanding the university's role in research in all fields.

Academics

UF is divided into twenty-one colleges, which offer over 100 undergraduate majors and an equally wide array of 200 graduate degrees, including the only dentistry and veterinary medicine programs in the state. The centerpiece of the critically-acclaimed journalism programs at UF is WUFT, which consists of both a PBS television station and an NPR radio station.

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 a UF invention, Gatorade. The university is 13th among all universities - public and private - in the number of U.S. Patents awarded in 2000.

The acceptance rate at UF has slowly fallen over the past decade as more students apply. In 2004, the average incoming freshman had a weighted GPA of 4.0, an SAT score of 1290, and an ACT composite of 28. 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.

Sports

wProfessional Sports Teams In Florida