University of Central Florida
Public university in Orlando
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2024 | UCF cheerleading team won their fourth national title at the College Cheerleading and Dance Team Nationals. |
2023 | University of Central Florida ranked 124th in National Universities category and 14th most innovative school by U.S. News & World Report. Also ranked 8th best in online bachelor's programs nationally. |
2022 | The library began working on its 21st Century Library Project, a multi-phased plan to create additional space for student learning, technology, collaboration, and research expansion. |
2022 | Enrollment reached 68,442 students, making it the fourth-largest on-campus student body of any public university in the United States. |
2022 | The National Science Foundation announced that the Arecibo Observatory would not be rebuilt, and plans were made to establish an educational facility on the site. |
2021 | Maggy Tomova, Ph.D. became the new dean of the College of Sciences. |
2020 | UCF cheerleading team won their third national title at the College Cheerleading and Dance Team Nationals. |
2020 | Undergraduate tuition costs were set at $212.28 per credit hour for in-state students and $748.89 for out-of-state students. |
2020 | UCF's admission rate for first-time-in-college freshmen declined to 42%. 335 National Merit Scholars enrolled for the fall term, with 34% of accepted applicants in the top ten percent of their graduating class. |
2020 | UCF's financial endowment, administered by the University of Central Florida Foundation, Inc., is valued at $162 million. |
2020 | Published a research paper on thermal extraction of water ice from the lunar surface using a 3D numerical model in Planetary and Space Science journal, contributing to lunar exploration research. |
2020 | Michael Johnson was elevated to Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, concluding his role as dean. |
December 1 2020 | The Arecibo Observatory sustained a catastrophic collapse, effectively ending its decades of scientific operations. |
November 6 2020 | Second support cable broke at the Arecibo Observatory, further compromising the telescope's structural integrity. |
August 10 2020 | First support cable broke at the Arecibo Observatory, signaling the beginning of structural issues. |
April 13 2020 | Alexander Cartwright is inaugurated as the fifth president of the University of Central Florida, succeeding acting president Thad Seymore. |
2019 | Downtown Orlando campus opened in collaboration with Valencia West, featuring the Dr. Phillips Academic Commons, Union West, and UCF Center for Emerging Media buildings. |
August 2019 | A final report reveals total misdirected funds of $99.61 million between July 2010 and August 2018. UCF is fined 120% the cost of misused funds. |
February 2019 | John Hitt resigns from the presidency of the University of Central Florida, with Thad Seymore taking over as acting president. |
February 2019 | President Dale Whittaker resigns after seven months in office due to allegations of knowledge about fund misappropriation. Board of Trustees Chairman Marcos Marchena also resigns. |
January 2019 | UCF severs ties with President Emeritus John Hitt after an investigation reveals misspending of over $85 million between 2013 and 2018. |
2018 | UCF defeated the eighth-ranked Auburn Tigers in the Peach Bowl. |
2018 | Dale Whittaker succeeds John C. Hitt as president of the university. |
2018 | Conducted low-velocity impact experiments studying regolith behavior under asteroid-level gravity conditions, published in Progress in Earth and Planetary Science. |
September 13 2018 | UCF admits to misappropriating funds for Trevor Colbourn Hall, leading to the resignation of CFO Bill Merck. |
August 2018 | The state university system's Board of Governors and Florida Legislature initiate an investigation into UCF for misuse of state funds. |
2017 | UCF finished with an undefeated season, won their third AAC Championship, and was named national champions by the Colley Matrix. |
2017 | University enrollment began tracking, showing 66,183 total students across undergraduate and graduate programs. |
2016 | Student enrollment reached 64,318, representing a more than 60% increase since 2000. |
2016 | Performed experimental study of a multi-particle system on a suborbital rocket, examining submillimetre-sized dust aggregate collision and growth properties, published in Astronomy & Astrophysics. |
July 2016 | Arecibo Observatory was surpassed as the world's largest single-aperture telescope by the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) in China. |
2015 | Aviation Week & Space Technology workforce study named UCF the No. 1 supplier of engineers to aerospace and defense industries. |
2015 | UCF received more freshman and transfer student applications than any other public university in Florida, and awarded more bachelor's degrees than any other Florida public university. |
2014 | UCF won the inaugural AAC Football Championship and upset the sixth-ranked Baylor Bears in the Fiesta Bowl. |
2014 | UCF receives $18 million in funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to help counter budget decreases. |
2013 | UCF joined the American Athletic Conference (AAC) as a full member. |
2012 | UCF board of trustees approved a 15% tuition increase for the 2012-13 academic year, following budget decreases and increased university demands. |
2012 | UCF researchers discovered and named a planet UCF-1.01. |
2012 | The main campus library was dedicated to honor John C. Hitt, UCF's fourth president, on the occasion of his twentieth anniversary as university president. |
2012 | Florida legislature cuts $53 million from UCF's fiscal year budget. |
2011 | Michael Johnson, Ph.D. began his tenure as dean of the College of Sciences. |
2010 | UCF won the CUSA Football Championship and earned their first bowl victory against Georgia. Women's basketball team also won the CUSA Championship. |
2010 | UCF was ranked 2nd in Florida and 34th in the United States for the number of National Merit Scholars enrolled. |
2010 | During the Spring graduation ceremonies, UCF awards its 200,000th degree, less than five years after awarding its 150,000th degree. |
This contents of the box above is based on material from the Wikipedia articles Florida Space Institute, University of Central Florida & University of Central Florida College of Sciences, which are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.