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A&M grad tapped to lead UF
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Last: 11 days ago by aggie93
Pretty impressive, except for the LSU stop. One of my sons is about to tour UF next week - I'm curious what he'll have to say about it. I've never been to UF, but US News sure likes them.
Core of campus is still nice, much more campus sprawl now than when I was there. Bit less of a college feel, even in town.
USNews likes UF because it does the basic things really well. Attracts higher end students (the growth of the state is the biggest driver there, it's gotten crazy competitive)), graduates them at a high rate, and saddles them with little debt on graduation. But as a "for instance" as to why rankings aren't everything,I think A&M grads actually have a higher starting salary on average post graduation.
Hope your kid finds the right school for them.
USNews likes UF because it does the basic things really well. Attracts higher end students (the growth of the state is the biggest driver there, it's gotten crazy competitive)), graduates them at a high rate, and saddles them with little debt on graduation. But as a "for instance" as to why rankings aren't everything,I think A&M grads actually have a higher starting salary on average post graduation.
Hope your kid finds the right school for them.
My son just finished up his sophomore year there, and he really likes it. Campus is nice, I like the architecture and the landscaping. Gainesville is definitely not much of a town, but I like the fact that he's in a "college town" rather than a big city. They don't call it the Swamp for nothing. But he has made friends whose parents live or have places in Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville, Miami, etc. Always somewhere to go if you want to drive a few hours.
The school is definitely well regarded, and you can see why. As Oragator said, the state is growing rapidly, and there is no significant competition from top schools in the state. Unlike in Texas, they don't auto admit, so they aren't diluting the quality of their students with kids from less academically challenging schools. Miami is still a rich kids' school, FSU is getting better as well but UF is still the preferred in-state school for most strong academic kids. A lot of the kids come down from the Northeast because they want to go to a strong academic school but have sunshine, football games, a chance to drive to a beach, etc. Stats for the last accepted class are crazy high - mid-50s ACT of 31-34 and SAT of 1380-1510. That's definitely way higher than A&M. If it is true that A&M grads make more $$$ coming out, that is likely related to engineering grads bringing up the average.
Out of state tuition, in addition, is really quite reasonable. With the growth of the state, and the lack of in-state competition, I can't imagine UF doesn't continue to rise in the collegiate rankings with regards to academics. Best of luck.
The school is definitely well regarded, and you can see why. As Oragator said, the state is growing rapidly, and there is no significant competition from top schools in the state. Unlike in Texas, they don't auto admit, so they aren't diluting the quality of their students with kids from less academically challenging schools. Miami is still a rich kids' school, FSU is getting better as well but UF is still the preferred in-state school for most strong academic kids. A lot of the kids come down from the Northeast because they want to go to a strong academic school but have sunshine, football games, a chance to drive to a beach, etc. Stats for the last accepted class are crazy high - mid-50s ACT of 31-34 and SAT of 1380-1510. That's definitely way higher than A&M. If it is true that A&M grads make more $$$ coming out, that is likely related to engineering grads bringing up the average.
Out of state tuition, in addition, is really quite reasonable. With the growth of the state, and the lack of in-state competition, I can't imagine UF doesn't continue to rise in the collegiate rankings with regards to academics. Best of luck.
He's getting some attention now.
"University of Florida board leadership is breaching protocol to push Stuart Bell, former president of U of Alabama, as the SOLE finalist for the UF Presidency. It's a blow to UF's reform record as Bell founded the DEI office at Alabama and refused to fire DEI officers"
Uh oh https://t.co/r34U2tAEjH
— Harmeet K. Dhillon (@HarmeetKDhillon) May 19, 2026
"University of Florida board leadership is breaching protocol to push Stuart Bell, former president of U of Alabama, as the SOLE finalist for the UF Presidency. It's a blow to UF's reform record as Bell founded the DEI office at Alabama and refused to fire DEI officers"
That's definitely a negative in my book. The governor in Florida doesn't put up with wokeness in the state universities. I wonder if he'll get confirmed.
I applaud UF for their rise in status and have no animus. Odd events post Sasse and their Michigan DEI hire that was rejected (Santa J. Ono), only for UF to put another DEI proponent in place. Knowing that DeSantis will gank him. What are the UF honchos thinking? Or ignoring.
I think it just goes to show how absolutely Leftist academia has become. And the better the academics, the more it swings that way. The applicant pool for the position is probably all the same. Florida is one of the most conservative universities among high academic institutions, and the state is leaning more and more conservative, but this is what the BOR produces.
FWIW Florida has a blll with their Leg right now that looks like it could become law that would make it so that 95% of students at UF are In State. If that happens OOS admissions in the future are going to be crazy competitive. It's already gotten dramatically more competitive than even 5 years ago at UF as they have become consistently in the Top 5 Public School conversation. For good and bad they are a very well balanced school that isn't necessarily at the top in too many specific fields but is very good at everything. Culturally UF seems to be somewhere between A&M and Texas.
"The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help."
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Don't want it to become a political debate, but we made a mistake not hiring Ono last year. Even if you have strong feelings around DEI, he was a complete politician, he would have licked his own butthole if the BOG or legislature asked him to, he was never a threat that way. He would have totally capitulated to the culture they wanted. Everyone would have won. The BOG would have gotten a lackey and UF would have gotten a nationally respected leader. And now you've given power to the online folks who torpedoed his nomination to do it again.
You just aren't going to find anyone the level UF is hoping for who didn't have some level of DEI interaction in the last decade. It was everywhere and just about every single person can be disqualified over it. Just have them say publicly they don't support it and move on. No one in that role would be dumb enough to torpedo the university"s funding by supporting it. It's truly a non concern given the consequences.
You just aren't going to find anyone the level UF is hoping for who didn't have some level of DEI interaction in the last decade. It was everywhere and just about every single person can be disqualified over it. Just have them say publicly they don't support it and move on. No one in that role would be dumb enough to torpedo the university"s funding by supporting it. It's truly a non concern given the consequences.
And I should add that the Florida senate killed that 95 percent residency bill, doubt it comes back for a while.
oragator said:
And I should add that the Florida senate killed that 95 percent residency bill, doubt it comes back for a while.
Why would they vote against that? Isnt their job to look out for the taxpayers of Florida? Seems they are trying to protect the institution at the expense of the residents.
Money mainly. Tuition for instate kids would have to go up a fair bit to cover the lost out of state revenue. And then at 95 percent, athletics alone could eat up a lot of those spots. And UF doesn't have a crazy percentage of out of state anyway, it's like 20 percent.
Plus it could create one of two scenarios. Overall admissions standards go down, reputation suffers and we lose grant money, which hurts the state. And/or standards become so high for out of state that the few that get in have better offers and don't come, so we lose what little out of state tuition money we get, tuition goes up even further and we basically become a fully insular university from the world.
It was well meaning, but not really practical. If it ever does come back it will be a more reasonable number I presume.
Plus it could create one of two scenarios. Overall admissions standards go down, reputation suffers and we lose grant money, which hurts the state. And/or standards become so high for out of state that the few that get in have better offers and don't come, so we lose what little out of state tuition money we get, tuition goes up even further and we basically become a fully insular university from the world.
It was well meaning, but not really practical. If it ever does come back it will be a more reasonable number I presume.
As previously stated, my son is enrolled at U.F. He is, in fact, an out of state student. The tuition is really quite reasonable for out of state students - about $28,000/year. However, Florida also gives out a certain number of "grandparent waivers" across the state. We needed to get quite a bit of information to prove that his grandmother was a full-time resident, but it brought his tuition down to in-state prices, which are also amazingly reasonable - under $7,000 per year.
Most of the in-state students are going close to tuition free because of the Bright Futures scholarship. Depending on the level of scholarship Bright Futures students have, they are either paying no tuition and fees and they receive a stipend, or only 25% of that annual tuition and fees. Based on the numbers I saw, 92% of students enrolled at U.F. have Bright Futures at enrollment. Moreover, in state National Merit Scholars receive a full four year cost of attendance scholarship plus an annual $500 stipend. They really try to keep top kids in state.
The most amazing thing to me when we spoke to a counselor was that, while each school within the state system gets pro rata shares of grandparent waivers, only U.F. and Florida State use up all of theirs. After the first round, the other in-state schools send their unused waivers back to the state for redistribution and U.F. and Florida State are able to give out a few more. Technically, the waivers are given out on a first come first serve basis, but there was a bit of a wink and a nod when the counselor said this, leading me to believe that at least at U.F. they were being used to entice high achieving out of state students.
They do a lot of really smart things in Florida, I must say. I hope they make a good choice with the next President. Gig 'em Aggies and Go Gators.
Most of the in-state students are going close to tuition free because of the Bright Futures scholarship. Depending on the level of scholarship Bright Futures students have, they are either paying no tuition and fees and they receive a stipend, or only 25% of that annual tuition and fees. Based on the numbers I saw, 92% of students enrolled at U.F. have Bright Futures at enrollment. Moreover, in state National Merit Scholars receive a full four year cost of attendance scholarship plus an annual $500 stipend. They really try to keep top kids in state.
The most amazing thing to me when we spoke to a counselor was that, while each school within the state system gets pro rata shares of grandparent waivers, only U.F. and Florida State use up all of theirs. After the first round, the other in-state schools send their unused waivers back to the state for redistribution and U.F. and Florida State are able to give out a few more. Technically, the waivers are given out on a first come first serve basis, but there was a bit of a wink and a nod when the counselor said this, leading me to believe that at least at U.F. they were being used to entice high achieving out of state students.
They do a lot of really smart things in Florida, I must say. I hope they make a good choice with the next President. Gig 'em Aggies and Go Gators.
He Who Shall Be Unnamed said:
As previously stated, my son is enrolled at U.F. He is, in fact, an out of state student. The tuition is really quite reasonable for out of state students - about $28,000/year. However, Florida also gives out a certain number of "grandparent waivers" across the state. We needed to get quite a bit of information to prove that his grandmother was a full-time resident, but it brought his tuition down to in-state prices, which are also amazingly reasonable - under $7,000 per year.
Most of the in-state students are going close to tuition free because of the Bright Futures scholarship. Depending on the level of scholarship Bright Futures students have, they are either paying no tuition and fees and they receive a stipend, or only 25% of that annual tuition and fees. Based on the numbers I saw, 92% of students enrolled at U.F. have Bright Futures at enrollment. Moreover, in state National Merit Scholars receive a full four year cost of attendance scholarship plus an annual $500 stipend. They really try to keep top kids in state.
The most amazing thing to me when we spoke to a counselor was that, while each school within the state system gets pro rata shares of grandparent waivers, only U.F. and Florida State use up all of theirs. After the first round, the other in-state schools send their unused waivers back to the state for redistribution and U.F. and Florida State are able to give out a few more. Technically, the waivers are given out on a first come first serve basis, but there was a bit of a wink and a nod when the counselor said this, leading me to believe that at least at U.F. they were being used to entice high achieving out of state students.
They do a lot of really smart things in Florida, I must say. I hope they make a good choice with the next President. Gig 'em Aggies and Go Gators.
It frustrates me to no end that Texas Universities don't lobby to create this here or mirror similar policies in Georgia. We have far more money than both states but all our scholarship funding is focused on means testing and then leaving costs high for most students and having very little merit. We do so much less with so much more.
"The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help."
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
oragator said:
And I should add that the Florida senate killed that 95 percent residency bill, doubt it comes back for a while.
Good to hear, 95% is extreme though a lower percentage could make sense (80-85%) which I believe is in line with what they have anyway.
"The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help."
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
aggie93 said:oragator said:
And I should add that the Florida senate killed that 95 percent residency bill, doubt it comes back for a while.
Good to hear, 95% is extreme though a lower percentage could make sense (80-85%) which I believe is in line with what they have anyway.
In response to both of your responses, yes, it is frustrating that other states are doing things really well and keeping smart kids at home and recruiting out of state talent while Texas seems more interested in "balancing the scales". With regards to Georgia and Florida, both have lottery funding for their education systems (the only regressive taxes there is, other than taxes on cigarettes, IMHO). I don't know how the totals per student compare to the PUF.
I didn't know what the out of state percentage is at U.F., but a bit of cursory research seems to say that the state schools are capped in total to 10% cumulatively, but U.F. and Florida State can get away with having more out of state students. This is because UCF, USF, UF Jacksonville, the HBCUs, etc. all seem to be getting mainly in state students. That is also in keeping with them turning in unused grandparent waivers to be used by UF and Florida State.
I can't see how UF will ever do anything but continue to attract top academic students both in-state and out-of-state with what they are doing. That being said, I totally understand how parents who have been paying taxes for years and buying lottery tickets are frustrated with their kids not being able to get into the state's flagship school.
It's more the alumni yelling. They are fiercely loyal to the school, donate for decades, and then see their kids with far better resumes than they had get rejected.
I get it, but that's a nature of public schools. Every kid has to stand on their own merit, and our out of state percentage is actually lower than most of the other schools in our general range. Having a highly ranked university system helps a state in a lot of ways. Brings in jobs because companies believe that there are good local employees. It brings in families because they believe the higher education system is solid. It brings in money to the state with research funding etc. and having out-of-state talent, the money it brings, is part of that equation.
So it's definitely a balancing act, but for me, I think UF has it just about right for the needs of the state. Clearly, some in the state disagree.
I get it, but that's a nature of public schools. Every kid has to stand on their own merit, and our out of state percentage is actually lower than most of the other schools in our general range. Having a highly ranked university system helps a state in a lot of ways. Brings in jobs because companies believe that there are good local employees. It brings in families because they believe the higher education system is solid. It brings in money to the state with research funding etc. and having out-of-state talent, the money it brings, is part of that equation.
So it's definitely a balancing act, but for me, I think UF has it just about right for the needs of the state. Clearly, some in the state disagree.
WSJ has picked up on the story:
Reports of Woke's Death are Exaggerated
From the article if still behind paywall:
"Why is it so hard to rid universities of DEI, even in crimson states like Alabama and Florida?
The answer at the University of Florida could be its trustees' reluctance to follow university regulations and state law, which require transparency and ban DEI. Mr. Bell is heavily championed by Morteza "Mori" Hosseini, chairman of the board of trustees. He is a prominent Republican donor who supported Mr. Ono and expressed dismay when he was blocked. This time, Florida Board of Governors chairman Alan Levine has written Ray Rodrigues, chancellor of Florida's State University System, asking him to investigate whether Mr. Hosseini overstepped his authority in the selection process."
Reports of Woke's Death are Exaggerated
From the article if still behind paywall:
"Why is it so hard to rid universities of DEI, even in crimson states like Alabama and Florida?
The answer at the University of Florida could be its trustees' reluctance to follow university regulations and state law, which require transparency and ban DEI. Mr. Bell is heavily championed by Morteza "Mori" Hosseini, chairman of the board of trustees. He is a prominent Republican donor who supported Mr. Ono and expressed dismay when he was blocked. This time, Florida Board of Governors chairman Alan Levine has written Ray Rodrigues, chancellor of Florida's State University System, asking him to investigate whether Mr. Hosseini overstepped his authority in the selection process."
Updated stats for this year came out today.
Zero percent chance I would have gotten in now.
Zero percent chance I would have gotten in now.
These numbers are bonkers for the UF Class of 2030. pic.twitter.com/KvMlJ02HI3
— Dan Thompson (@DKThompson) June 12, 2026
Those stats are crazy for a public school. Especially for the Honors Program kids. I sent them to my son, who just completed his second year there. He said, "They need to admit fewer students, we are full. The campus is already packed." I have only been there on weekends, perhaps he is correct.
I've been surprised as to the academic rigor he has faced there, the place is definitely no joke. I've been pretty impressed with the school so far, including the recruiting opportunities that it has brought him. Being the parent of an out-of-state student, I didn't have a great feel for how the U.F. alumni network was. It's really tough for kids these days, and coming from a good school with a good alumni base certainly helps.
Gig 'em and Chomp Chomp Go Gators!
I've been surprised as to the academic rigor he has faced there, the place is definitely no joke. I've been pretty impressed with the school so far, including the recruiting opportunities that it has brought him. Being the parent of an out-of-state student, I didn't have a great feel for how the U.F. alumni network was. It's really tough for kids these days, and coming from a good school with a good alumni base certainly helps.
Gig 'em and Chomp Chomp Go Gators!
I looked it up and UF is NOT test optional, so those SAT scores are crazy. Its amazing that they can achieve those numbers at such a large school.
I have a theory that certain top public universities will start drawing even with (maybe eventually surpassing) many of the Ivy+ colleges as those "elite" schools continue to put merit second behind their unapologetic DEI agenda. There are tens of thousands of top shelf students denied admission by those Ivy+ colleges every year who then wind up at public flagships. When you look at rankings of various undergraduate engineering departments, most of the Ivy + are ranked lower than the best public programs. The business and architecture programs at top public colleges are also working their way higher in the rankings.
I have a theory that certain top public universities will start drawing even with (maybe eventually surpassing) many of the Ivy+ colleges as those "elite" schools continue to put merit second behind their unapologetic DEI agenda. There are tens of thousands of top shelf students denied admission by those Ivy+ colleges every year who then wind up at public flagships. When you look at rankings of various undergraduate engineering departments, most of the Ivy + are ranked lower than the best public programs. The business and architecture programs at top public colleges are also working their way higher in the rankings.
Buck Turgidson said:
I looked it up and UF is NOT test optional, so those SAT scores are crazy. Its amazing that they can achieve those numbers at such a large school.
I have a theory that certain top public universities will start drawing even with (maybe eventually surpassing) many of the Ivy+ colleges as those "elite" schools continue to put merit second behind their unapologetic DEI agenda. There are tens of thousands of top shelf students denied admission by those Ivy+ colleges every year who then wind up at public flagships. When you look at rankings of various undergraduate engineering departments, most of the Ivy + are ranked lower than the best public programs. The business and architecture programs at top public colleges are also working their way higher in the rankings.
The main difference honestly seems to be less about quality and more about size. Most T20's are max 8k Undergrad and many are less. The Ivies are primarily Liberal Arts schools and Cornell has the largest engineering program (and is the largest Ivy). For instance Georgia Tech has literally 10x as many undergrads as Duke Pratt.
"The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help."
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
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