The University of Florida (UF) is a major, public, comprehensive, land-grant, research university. The state’s oldest and most comprehensive university, UF is among the nation’s most academically diverse public universities.

UF has a long history of established programs in international education, research and service. It is one of only 17 public, land-grant universities that belongs to the Association of American Universities.

In 1853, the state-funded East Florida Seminary took over the Kingsbury Academy in Ocala. The seminary moved to Gainesville in the 1860s and later was consolidated with the state’s land-grant Florida Agricultural College, then in Lake City. In 1905, by legislative action, the college became a university and was moved to Gainesville. Classes first met with 102 students on the present site on Sept. 26, 1906. UF officially opened its doors to women in 1947. With more than 50,000 students, UF is now one of the largest universities in the nation.

Facilities

UF has a 2,000-acre campus and more than 900 buildings (including 170 with classrooms and laboratories). The northeast corner of campus is listed as a Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places. The UF residence halls have a total capacity of some 7,500 students and the five family housing villages house more than 1,000 married and graduate students.

UF’s extensive capital improvement program has resulted in facilities ideal for 21st century academics and research, including the Health Professions, Nursing and Pharmacy Building; the Cancer and Genetics Research Center; the new Biomedical Sciences Building; and William R. Hough Hall, which houses the Hough Graduate School of Business. Overall, the university’s current facilities have a book value of more than $1 billion and a replacement value of $2 billion.