UCF celebrates 50th anniversary, touts diverse, ‘accomplished’ freshman class

University of Central Florida is celebrating its 50th anniversary with a freshman class that the school describes as “the most accomplished” to date.

UCF students returned to class Monday for the fall semester.

Originally named Florida Technological University, the campus opened in 1968 with seven buildings and 1,948 students. Much has changed since then. Here’s a look at the university and the students expected to attend this year (these numbers are preliminary because final enrollment data won’t be available for several weeks):

67,500

That’s the projected enrollment, up from about 66,000 last year.

4.11

The average high school GPA of incoming freshman, a school record.

1328

The average SAT score of incoming UCF freshman, also a record.

82

New national merit scholars, bringing the total to 316, the largest number ever at UCF.

Almost 50

The percentage of UCF students who are minorities.

9,750

The number of graduate students at UCF, an increase of about 6 percent over last year.

More than 4,300

University of Central Florida students who will be in fully online programs this fall, up about 50 percent from last year.

JACOB LANGSTON/STAFF FILE PHOTO Knightro, UCF’s mascot, crowd surfs over students at the Reflecting Pond for Spirit Splash.