{"id":102061,"date":"2019-08-22T10:17:11","date_gmt":"2019-08-22T14:17:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=102061"},"modified":"2022-03-28T11:20:42","modified_gmt":"2022-03-28T15:20:42","slug":"ucfs-incoming-class-sets-new-academic-bar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucfs-incoming-class-sets-new-academic-bar\/","title":{"rendered":"UCF\u2019s Incoming Class Sets New Academic Bar"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Fall 2019 semester begins Aug. 26, with an incoming freshman class that sets a new bar for academic excellence and a new campus that is the talk of downtown Orlando.<\/p>\n

Preliminary statistics indicate that the Class of 2023 will break university records for grade point averages and standardized test scores, even surpassing last year\u2019s freshman class, who were then heralded as the most accomplished in UCF\u2019s history<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The incoming 2019-20 class\u2019s GPA of 4.17 is up from last year\u2019s 4.11. The average SAT and ACT scores of 1333 and 29 are an increase from 2018\u2019s 1328 and 28.3. And the total number of National Merit Scholars at UCF is projected to be 90, boosting the university\u2019s National Merit enrollment to 330, the largest ever in our 51-year history.<\/p>\n

UCF officials expect the university\u2019s total student enrollment to be approximately 68,500 students. Approximately, 48 percent of the student population will come from minority communities, an all-time institutional high.<\/p>\n

In addition to the university\u2019s 58,000 undergraduates, 9,500 graduate students are seeking master\u2019s and doctoral degrees. Part of the university\u2019s enrollment is fueled by the growth in offerings to UCF Online<\/a> students, which is expected to climb above 5,000 this fall, a rise from last year\u2019s 4,300.<\/p>\n

UCF now offers more than 220 degree programs within its 13 colleges. New to the 2019-20 academic year will be a Master of Athletic Training<\/a> as well as a Master of Science in Systems Engineering<\/a>. Two doctoral programs also were started for aerospace engineering<\/a> and strategic communication<\/a>.<\/p>\n