Over the previous 20 years, the College of Central Florida’s enrollment has grown by greater than 27,000 college students. School hiring hasn’t saved up.
That has left the Orlando college with a student-to-faculty ratio worse than another Florida public college and, at 28 to 1, double the nationwide common.
The influence? Giant class sizes, an absence of in-person choices, lengthy waitlists to get into some programs, and — for a lot of college students — an extended street to a level. And whereas the college has trimmed the imbalance over the past 5 years and says it hopes to do extra, progress is sluggish within the face of advanced monetary challenges.
For years, UCF college students have joked the varsity’s initials stand for “U Can’t End,” mentioned Yois Morris-Calderon, a 19-year-old UCF scholar.
Morris-Calderon, a public relations freshman, mentioned she has been annoyed that lots of her required courses aren’t supplied every semester as a consequence of an absence of professors to show them. Others are solely out there on-line when she’d desire to be taught in a classroom.
“I believed it was an exaggeration,” Morris-Calderon mentioned. “However no, I’ve talked to so many seniors that talked about how their commencement received pushed.”
UCF’s battle with numerous college students and never sufficient professors dates again a long time.
Its student-to-faculty ratio mirrored different giant Florida universities in 2000, at about 22 college students per school member, however it subsequently exploded, peaking above 31. Though the ratio has come down barely over the previous 5 years, it nonetheless far exceeds state and nationwide averages.
The imbalance started below former President John Hitt, who served for 26 years. The Hitt-led college started enrolling extra college students about 20 years in the past, fueled partly by a state funding mannequin that incentivized universities to develop their scholar our bodies, mentioned Robert Cassanello, a historical past professor and former president of the varsity’s school union. UCF’s scholar physique grew 64% over that two-decade span to its present enrollment dimension of almost 70,000.
However in Cassanello’s view, “progress for the sake of progress” was unsustainable. Including college students introduced in additional state funding, however not sufficient to rent the college to show them.
“Hitt couldn’t rent extra school on the price that he was growing the scholar physique, as a result of the finances wasn’t permitting for it,” Cassanello mentioned. “In order that’s how the scholar ratio received out of whack to the college ratio, and that’s simply form of continued, and its legacy continues to be with us at present.”
By comparability, UF and FSU — each established a long time earlier than UCF — have elevated their scholar enrollment at a slower tempo. Alongside the best way, they’ve employed school at charges excessive sufficient for his or her their student-to-faculty ratios to dip, not rise. That they had round 16 and 17 college students per teacher, respectively, as of final 12 months.
UCF is taking strides to cut back its ratio, including 234 school positions since fall 2022, mentioned spokesperson Courtney Gilmartin in an electronic mail. The college has additionally invested in additional tutorial coaches and instructing assistants to assist college students keep on observe, Gilmartin wrote.
The college continues to be specializing in rising its scholar physique. However now, it’s tailoring that progress to its engineering and pc science applications, which have seen a 17% enrollment improve in three years, Gilmartin wrote.
“We’ve performed this all whereas receiving the bottom state funding per diploma within the State College System and delivering a robust return on funding by means of our dedication to each effectivity and excellence,” she wrote.
However Michael Barbour, a California-based fellow with the Nationwide Training Coverage Heart, mentioned UCF’s excessive ratio means it might probably’t supply the customized expertise college students anticipate from a faculty like UF.
On-line courses can change into extra frequent as scholar enrollment grows, Barbour mentioned. Professors in programs with over 100 college students usually tend to give auto-graded quizzes and fewer prone to assign papers. That mechanization doesn’t at all times foster problem-solving or vital considering, he mentioned.
“When they’re out recruiting college students, and when they’re advertising and marketing themselves, I believe they should be intellectually sincere with what it’s they’re offering,” he mentioned of UCF. “They shouldn’t be going across the state promoting the Florida Gator expertise, or the College of Miami expertise, after they know they will’t present that type of atmosphere.”
The atmosphere differs in some ways. As a result of it has fewer professors per scholar, UCF’s class sizes additionally are usually bigger than these at different Florida universities. Greater than 10% of UCF undergraduate courses had 100 college students or extra in 2025, in response to school-provided knowledge.
The following highest had been Florida Atlantic College, the place 6.5% of courses had 100 or extra college students, and the College of South Florida, the place 5.7% did.
Orianna Guarisma, a 19-year-old biomedical sciences scholar, mentioned the varsity’s giant scholar physique poses issues throughout course registration.
“It makes it much more tough to have the ability to discover courses,” she mentioned. “Registration has been open since March, and I’m nonetheless engaged on determining what courses I would like … I’m terrified for the autumn semester.”
However the Central Florida native mentioned she’d “positively” make the identical resolution to go to UCF if given the selection once more. The varsity’s dimension, whereas overwhelming, additionally means extra alternatives for involvement, whether or not by means of soccer video games or school-run karaoke nights, she mentioned.
Nonetheless, loads of college students are discovering the competitors for courses to be fierce. Out of the 11 sections of Strange Differential Equations — a required math class for a lot of engineering college students — supplied for the upcoming fall semester, registration for one is closed altogether and the rest are on waitlists as of Aug 7, a little bit over per week earlier than the primary day of courses, the UCF registration web site reveals.
For an additional prerequisite, Rules of Chemistry, a number of morning sections stay open however waitlists for afternoon sections vary as much as 75 college students lengthy.
Many college students battle to seek out house in prerequisite courses — those who should be taken to maneuver alongside in a selected main — as a consequence of lengthy waitlists, which prevents them from taking different programs to finish their levels, mentioned Cher Matthews Adams, whose son plans to graduate from UCF in Could.
Adams’ son, a switch scholar from Mississippi State College, wanted further time ending his engineering diploma due to a year-long delay stepping into upper-level courses, she mentioned. Many courses had been solely out there on-line.
“The entire expertise has been maddening,” she mentioned. “I’ve two extra youngsters, and they won’t be going to UCF. It’s out of the query.”
Talat Rahman, the college union’s present president, mentioned elevating salaries would assist UCF retain current school and draw in additional academics. The college’s median wage amongst full-time, salaried tutorial and analysis personnel was fourth-highest among the many 12 state universities final 12 months at about $94,000. However it considerably trailed FSU and UF, which noticed median salaries within the six-figure vary, in response to knowledge from the Florida Board of Governors.
“You get much more out of your cash from UCF school than you’ll get anyplace else within the nation,” Rahman mentioned, noting the variety of college students every school member should information. “However that additionally signifies that persons are overworked … you’ll be able to solely achieve this a lot.”
Final week, the college hiked tuition for out-of-state college students, a transfer directors mentioned would supply extra money for brand new professors.
In September, UCF introduced a 3% pay improve for eligible professors within the 2024-25 college 12 months — the biggest in years however nonetheless behind different Florida universities, Rahman mentioned. FSU and UF gave professors 3.5% and 4% raises the identical 12 months, respectively. That’s partly as a result of another universities, together with FSU and UF, obtain further state funding from their standing as “preeminent” universities.
UCF has not but met the entire 13 necessities wanted to attain “preeminence,” and its four-year commencement price is likely one of the necessities holding it again. UCF’s most up-to-date four-year price is 55%, and it must hit 60%
However Rahman mentioned that creates a loop of conflicting priorities: The commencement price possible gained’t enhance with out extra school, however the college can not afford to rent many extra with out the additional “preeminent” cash — which it might probably’t get until its commencement price will increase.
Yarilisse Chamorro, 22, an built-in enterprise senior, is graduating a 12 months later than deliberate as a result of it was exhausting to get wanted courses, she mentioned, an issue buddies struggled with, too.
Assembly with advisors is a headache, she mentioned, because the await an appointment could be so long as two months. Chamorro mentioned her expertise at Valencia School, the place she earned her affiliate’s diploma, felt extra customized, partly due to smaller class sizes.
“Right here, I simply really feel like I’m simply working to move, not working to be taught,” she mentioned. “You present up, do a lab, get out and type of train your self. That’s a number of what UCF is: instructing your self.”
Different college students say studying to show your self isn’t a foul factor.
Michael Taub obtained his bachelor’s and grasp’s diploma at UCF and now works as a design engineer.
Taub, now 26, took 5 years to finish his undergraduate diploma, which he mentioned is frequent amongst engineering majors. As an underclassman, he skilled all the same old struggles to get into his prerequisite programs— lengthy waitlists and 100-plus-student courses included.
However it all labored out high quality, Taub mentioned. And the expertise arrange the muse of grownup life, he mentioned, by instructing him folks “aren’t going to do issues for you.”
“If the scholar reveals the desire of claiming, ‘Hey, I’m right here, I wish to be taught extra,’ that reveals nice initiative,” Taub mentioned. “The professor doesn’t care in the event you present as much as class or not.”