Measured by the sheer number of academic programs, colleges and research centers, the University of Florida is the largest university in Florida.  It is one of three flagship universities of the State University System of Florida, and, at close to 50,000 students, has the second highest enrollment of Florida universities.  UF has the sixth largest student population of single campus universities in the United States.  Florida is a land-grant, space-grant, and sea-grant university.  The sea-grant status means funding and focus are given in scientific research, education, training, and extension projects geared toward the conservation and practical use of U.S. coasts and marine areas.  Space-grant universities maintain programs geared towards aeronautics and aerospace research and facilitation.  The space-grant program is administered by N.A.S.A.  Land-grant universities were first established in the 1860s for the purposes of dealing with the industrial revolution through the fields of engineering, agriculture, and science. 

The University of Florida is considered the most academically prestigious university for its relatively high placement on many publication lists attempting to quantify academic achievement.  The University of Florida is one of the largest research universities in the nation, contributes nearly $6 billion annually to Florida's economy, and is responsible for nearly 75,000 jobs.  UF is currently ranked 47th overall among national universities in the 2010 U.S. News & World Report rankings.  It has the largest budget of all Florida universities and has roughly twice as much of an endowment as the Florida State University, which has the second-largest endowment of any university in Florida.  Kiplinger’s magazine ranked UF second in a list of best value public universities in January of 2010, based upon costs, costs after financial aid, and average debt per student after school.  In 2010, U.S. News & World Report ranked the University of Florida as the 15th best public university in the United States. 

While UF was technically founded in 1853, it has maintained its current name and site in Gainesville, Florida since 1903 when it became more than just an agricultural and engineering school.  The G.I. Bill after World War II caused a great influx of students and eventually led to UF becoming a co-educational university (it was previously for white men) in the late 1940s.  In 1958, the University of Florida began allowing black students.  Shands Hospital and the UF medical school also opened in 1958.     

The J. Hillis Miller Health Science Center also has a teaching hospital located at Shands Jacksonville that offers degrees in conjunction with the College of Medicine, College of Dentistry, College of Nursing, and College of Pharmacy. The University's College of Pharmacy also maintains campuses in Orlando and St. Petersburg. The College of Dentistry has campuses in South Florida and St. Petersburg.

UF’s Warrington College of Business established programs in South Florida back in 2004, and recently built a 6,100 square foot facility in Sunrise, Florida. The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences has extensions in each of the 67 counties in Florida, and 13 research and education centers with a total of 19 locations throughout Florida. In 2005, the university established the Beijing Center for International Studies that offers research facilities, offices, and degree opportunities.

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