University of Central Florida College of Sciences

The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public research university with its main campus in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Florida. It is part of the State University System of Florida. With 68,442 students as of the Fall 2022 semester, UCF has the second-largest student body of any public university in the United States. UCF is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.UCF was founded in 1963 and opened in 1968 as Florida Technological University, with the mission to provide personnel to support the growing U.S. space program at the Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Florida's Space Coast. As its academic scope expanded beyond engineering and technology, Florida Tech was renamed the University of Central Florida in 1978. UCF's space roots continue, as it leads the NASA Florida Space Grant Consortium. Initial enrollment was 1,948 students; enrollment in 2022 exceeds 68,000 students from over 150 countries, all 50 states and Washington, D.C.Most students attend classes on the university's main campus, 13 miles (21 km) east of downtown Orlando and 35 miles (56 km) west of Cape Canaveral. UCF offers more than 230 degrees through 13 colleges at 10 regional campuses in Central Florida, including the Health Sciences Campus at Lake Nona Medical City, the Rosen College of Hospitality Management in south Orlando and the UCF Center for Emerging Media in downtown Orlando. Since its founding, UCF has awarded more than 346,000 degrees, including over 60,000 graduate and professional degrees.Its official colors are black and gold, and the university logo is Pegasus, which "symbolizes the university's vision of limitless possibilities". The university's intercollegiate sports teams, known as the UCF Knights and represented by mascot Knightro, compete in NCAA Division I and the American Athletic Conference.

The University of Central Florida College of Business Administration is an academic college of the University of Central Florida located in Orlando, Florida, United States. The dean of the college is Paul Jarley, Ph.D.The College of Business Administration offers programs in accounting, economics, finance, business administration, management, marketing, real estate and taxation, which were developed in response to the demands of the Central Florida community. The curriculum focuses on specific competencies that are integrated throughout all coursework: Teamwork, Communication, Creativity, Adaptation to Change, Diversity, and Ethics.

The University of Central Florida's Libraries is a university library system that is administered by the University of Central Florida, a metropolitan public research university located in Orlando, Florida, United States. The system, which stretches across Central Florida, includes eleven libraries of the university and provides primary support to all academic programs.The libraries serve UCF's students and faculty, and paid memberships are available to local residents. The system includes two branch libraries, seven regional campus libraries, in addition to the main library, the Harriet F. Ginsburg Health Sciences Library at the College of Medicine, Lake Nona and a research library at the Florida Solar Energy Center. As is common in research libraries, library materials are housed in a variety of locations depending upon discipline. The current Director of Libraries is Barry Baker.

The University of Central Florida College of Engineering and Computer Science is an academic college of the University of Central Florida located in Orlando, Florida, United States. The college offers degrees in engineering, computer science and management systems, and houses UCF's Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. The dean of the college is Michael Georgiopoulos, Ph.D.UCF is listed as a university with "very high research activity" by The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. With an enrollment of over 7,500 undergraduate and graduate students as of Fall 2012, the college is one of the premier engineering schools in the United States. The college is recognized by U.S. News & World Report as one of the nation's best Engineering schools, and as one of the world's best in the ARWU rankings. The university has made noted research contributions to modeling and simulation, digital media, and engineering and computer science.

The Burnett Honors College is an academic college of the University of Central Florida located in Orlando, Florida, United States. Founded in 1998 as the University Honors Program, it was expanded and renamed in 2002 in response to a $1.5 million gift by Al and Nancy Burnett. The dean of the college is Sheila Amin Gutiérrez de Piñeres, Ph.D.The college administers UCF's two honors programs, University Honors and Honors Undergraduate Thesis, through programs of advanced study at the university's main campus in Orlando. These programs encompass students who are also in one of UCF's twelve other academic colleges, but have applied to and been accepted to the Burnett Honors College. The college offers an honors dormitory in the Towers at Knights Plaza, and honors students are assisted with applying for prestigious post-graduate honors and fellowships, Other benefits include priority scheduling, specialized academic advisers, smaller classes that benefit from a more hands-on approach, and specialty courses and programs.

The University of Central Florida College of Health Professions and Sciences was formed in 2018. Formerly, many of the college's programs were housed in the former College of Health and Public Affairs of the University of Central Florida located in Orlando, Florida, United States. The current dean of the college is Christopher Ingersoll. The college of Health and Public Affairs ceased to exist in 2018; its programs were restructured in the current College of Health Professions and Sciences, and by the College of Community Innovation and Education. The college offers 23 degree options, including 2 doctoral degree programs, and 6 certificate options.

The UCF Knights are the athletic teams that represent the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida. The Knights participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I (FBS for football) as a member of the American Athletic Conference. UCF was invited to join the Big 12 Conference on September 10, 2021, and accepted the invitation later that day. The American Athletic Conference announced on June 10, 2022 that UCF had been approved for an early exit of the conference following the 2022-23 season (albeit with an increased buyout cost), permitting them to enter the Big 12 Conference for the 2023-24 season. Since men's soccer is not sponsored by the Big 12, they will play in the Sun Belt Conference beginning in 2023. The "Knights of Pegasus" – as the nickname was originally called – was a submission put forth by students, staff, and faculty in 1970 who wished to replace UCF's unpopular original mascot, the Citronaut, which was a mix between an orange and an astronaut. The Knights were also chosen over "Vincent the Vulture," which was a popular unofficial mascot among students at the time. From 1993 through 2007, the teams were known as the Golden Knights. In 1994, Knightro debuted as the Golden Knights' official athletic mascot. Since 2014, the Citronaut has made a limited return for some "throwback" games in football. UCF sponsors 16 varsity sports: 6 for men (baseball, basketball, football, golf, soccer, and tennis; the minimum number of men's sports required for a Division I school) and 10 for women (basketball, cross country, golf, rowing, soccer, softball, tennis, indoor track & field, outdoor track & field, and volleyball). UCF also used to sponsor a men's wrestling team, but it was discontinued after the 1986 season. The Knights 16 varsity teams have combined to win 89 conference championships and two national championships as of the end of the 2020–21 school year. The women's volleyball team won in the AIAW Small College Division national title in 1978 and the football team was selected as national champions by the Colley Matrix in 2017. Neither of these titles came in NCAA sanctioned events as the NCAA does not award national championships in FBS Football and did not sponsor women's sports at all before 1982. One Golden Knights athlete, Aurieyall Scott, has won an individual NCAA championship. Scott won the 60 meter dash at the 2013 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championship. The UCF cheerleading team (which not considered a varsity team) has captured three national titles at the College Cheerleading and Dance Team Nationals.Athletic facilities on the campus include the 44,206-seat FBC Mortgage Stadium, the 9,432–seat Addition Financial Arena, 3,000–seat Venue, John Euliano Park, the UCF Soccer and Track Stadium, and the UCF Softball Complex.

The University of Central Florida College of Graduate Studies is an academic college of the University of Central Florida located in Orlando, Florida, United States. The college confers most professional and research master's degrees and doctoral degrees in various fields of study for the university. The departments under which instruction and research take place are housed in UCF's other schools and colleges. The administrative offices for the College of Graduate Studies are located in Millican Hall, on UCF's main campus. The interim dean of the college is Ross Hinkle, Ph.D.Originally called the Division of Graduate Studies, in August 2008 the UCF Board of Trustees changed the name to "College of Graduate Studies" to better reflect the school's responsibilities for graduate education. Since 2008, the dean of the College of Graduate Studies has concurrently held the title of vice provost. This dual title is in recognition of the role played by the dean in reviewing academic departments and graduate programs throughout the university. For decades, the Division of Graduate Studies was housed in Colbourn Hall, which now includes the Graduate Student Center – a social, study, presentation, and research area for graduate students. The College of Graduate Studies does not have a faculty. The graduate faculty consists of members of the university faculty – organized in their colleges into "fields" representing distinct subject areas – who have been so designated by their respective departments or schools and approved by the dean of the College of Graduate Studies. Students apply for admission to a specific field, although once admitted, students are not limited to that field when selecting courses or faculty to serve of the committee supervising the student's research. The College of Medicine confers M.D.'s, but not Ph.D. degrees. The college offers 120 graduate degrees options. UCF ranks third among Florida's state universities in total graduate enrollment.

The University of Central Florida College of Optics and Photonics is an academic college of the University of Central Florida located in Orlando, Florida, United States. The dean of the college is David J. Hagan, Ph.D.In 2004, UCF's board of trustees voted to give UCF's School of Optics and Photonics full college status, making it the first college dedicated specifically to optics and photonics at a public university in the United States. Until 2013, it was the only college at UCF that did not offer an undergraduate program, offering only Master's and Doctoral degrees in Optics. In March 2013, the Board of Trustees approved the Bachelor of Science in Photonic Science and Engineering. The college houses the Center for Research and Education in Optics and Lasers (CREOL), the Florida Photonics Center of Excellence (FPCE), and the Townes Laser Institute.

The residence hall system at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida is administered by the Department of Housing and Residence Life. As of 2011, the system offers just under 6,500 beds on its main campus within five housing communities, 400 beds at the Rosen College of Hospitality Management, and 3,750 beds in university-affiliated housing.Housing on the main campus is separated into five communities, the oldest being Apollo, and the newest residence hall being UnionWest at Creative Village in downtown Orlando. The majority of on-campus housing is occupied by freshmen, while the bulk of upper-class and graduate students live in off-campus apartments, houses, and cooperatives. The Residence Hall Association (RHA) is the residence hall association for the university. All residents living in on-campus housing, UCF Affiliated Housing, or the Rosen College of Hospitality Management Housing are automatically members of RHA. They rebranded from the United Resident Student Association (URSA) to RHA in 2013.

The University of Central Florida College of Education and Human Performance is an academic college of University of Central Florida located in Orlando, Florida, United States. The dean of the college is Sandra L. Robinson, Ph.D.The College of Education and Human Performance provides over 100 degrees options to prepare students for a career in both primary and secondary education. The college is accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), and houses the UCF Academy for Teaching, Learning and Leadership.

The University of Central Florida College of Undergraduate Studies is an academic college of the University of Central Florida located in Orlando, Florida, United States. The dean of the college is Theodorea Regina Berry, Ph.D.The College of Undergraduate Studies was established in 2015, and was formerly the Office of Undergraduate Studies.