Gabrielle Russon
The University of Central Florida (UCF) was honored as one of the nation’s five most innovative public universities in the U.S. News & World Report’s newest annual rankings.
“UCF’s rise in prominence as one of the nation’s most innovative universities is a reflection of the collective boldness, creativity, and excellence of our people,” said UCF President Alexander Cartwright in a statement. “Together, our students, faculty, staff, and partners are making an incredible impact as we transform lives, solve societal challenges, elevate our community and state, and invent the future.”
The Orlando institution was also named the most innovative university in Florida for the seventh consecutive year.
“UCF’s strengths in empowering student success, achieving social mobility and fostering impactful industry partnerships have elevated the university to become one of the nation’s top five most innovative public universities,” the school said in a press release.
Why is UCF so innovative? The school pointed to its connections to companies like Lockheed Martin, Siemens, Northrop Grumman, L3 Harris, Duke Energy, NASA, AdventHealth, Orlando Health, Nemours Children’s Health and Electronic Arts to give students opportunities and real-world experience. UCF also touted its initiatives to pair undergraduate students with academic success coached and help students build deeper connections on campus.
The U.S. News & World Report list provides bragging rights for schools and helps them recruit more students. For school officials, it’s also proof they are accomplishing their academic missions.
UCF said in a press release it was proud to be in the company of the other top innovative schools.
“UCF stands tall alongside other top public schools in innovation, including the Georgia Institute of Technology, MIT and Purdue University — and ahead of UC Berkeley, Harvard and Virginia Tech.”
UCF also placed in the the top 20 best undergraduate teaching programs, the top 25 of public universities for student outcome measures, and the top 30 for social mobility, best value and nursing. UCF was also in the top 50 for engineering and computer science.
