“Gator Nation” Comes of Age!
Even the experts at uraccepted are occasionally surprised by a college . . . the University of Florida is one of those unusual exceptions. UF, as it is known to the “Gator Nation”, is an outstanding educational institution and one of the very best college values in the country.
Years ago, UF was an average state university with an average athletic program. Things have changed . . . a lot! Today, UF is a highly selective college, on anyone’s list of the top 50 American schools. As for the athletic program, well, unless you’ve been living without television or internet for the past few years, you’ve probably noticed that UF won both the national collegiate football championship and the national basketball championship!
How did such an average college become such an outstanding and respected college? The good news begins with something Floridians call the “brain drain”. In the past, many of Florida’s top high school students left the state to attend top colleges all across the country. Of course the trouble with sending the most talented students out of state to college is that following graduation, many of them discover new opportunities and don’t come back!
Keeping the best students in the nation’s fastest growing state meant addressing the brain drain by providing an attractive alternative to the Ivy League and other top out of state colleges. During the past 25 years, Florida has literally transformed the small town of Gainesville into the home of a world class university! The flagship of the state’s university system pursued excellence at every opportunity . . . and succeeded. Just how successful was the transformation? Consider this; a recent survey of where National Merit Scholars chose to attend college discovered that Harvard enrolled the most Merit Scholars, Yale the second most and UF the fourth most of any college in the world!
But the good news doesn’t stop there. In order to make UF even more attractive, the citizens of Florida didn’t just make it good, they made it affordable. Most state supported colleges are an excellent value compared to private college alternatives but UF took it one step further. Florida residents who are accepted at UF almost always qualify for a state sponsored “Bright Futures” scholarship. This makes attending UF not just a good value but a truly exceptional value . . . one of the very best in the country for a “top 50” school. Just how good is this value? At uraccepted, we suggest that families with talented middle school students think about the UF opportunity when considering a relocation.
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