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The University of Central Florida is a growing metropolitan
research university that delivers comprehensive programs of teaching,
research and service for over 45,000 students. Our primary mission
is to provide intellectual leadership through quality undergraduate
and graduate programs.
Established in 1963 as Florida Technological University, UCF
offers high-tech research in optics, lasers, communications,
simulation, alternative-energy, materials and distributed learning
and has developed, in partnership with industry, world-class
centers and institutes that focus on these strengths and more.
UCF employs over 1000 full-time instructional faculty and more
than 8,000 full and part-time professional, support, and student
personnel.
UCF is delivering on its promise of becoming America's leading
partnership university through relationships on local, national
and international levels. A significant amount of the $100 million
in sponsored research UCF generates annually is provided by industry
along Florida's High-Tech corridor. Funding from state and federal
agencies is also achieving record levels. UCF keeps regional,
state, national, and international needs in the forefront when
recruiting top students, faculty and staff, and developing the
infrastructure to achieve global prominence in selected areas
of research. Partnerships with the Central Florida Technology
Incubator, UCF's Small Business Development Center, Florida High
Tech Corridor Council, Enterprise Florida and regional economic
development organizations solidifies the university's local connections
and assists UCF researchers in transferring technology to the
marketplace.
The Carnegie Foundation basic classification for UCF is an
RU/H: Research University (high research activity). Accord
to MIT Technology Review 2002
annual survey of U.S. universities and their quest for intellectual
property, UCF ranked number 38 out of 84 in technological strength.
In addition, The UCF Technology Incubator is among the nation's
Top 10 incubators according to the National Business Incubation
Association. UCF is also ranked in the top 100 institutions in
the country in the number of enrolled National Merit scholars.
UCF offers 92 baccalaureate programs, 94 master's programs,
3 specialist programs and 24 doctoral programs in the colleges
of Arts & Humanities; Sciences; Business Administration;
Biomedical Sciences; Education; Engineering
and Computer Science; Health & Public
Affairs; Optics and Photonics/CREOL and
Hospitality Management.
In addition to the Florida Solar Energy Center, Institute for Simulation and Training, and Center for Research and Education in Optics and Lasers, all designated state centers of excellence, UCF is home to the Advanced Materials Processing and Analysis Center (AMPAC), the Florida Space Institute, the National Center for Forensic Science, the Biomolecular Sciences Center and the Center for Advanced Transportation Systems Simulation. Because of UCF's location in the heart of the state's most rapidly growing technology cluster, a unique affinity with the businesses that comprise the growth and continued quality of students poised to run these businesses, the university is a proven leader in promoting and developing high-tech growth in central Florida. |
