The University of Florida (Florida, UFL, or UF) is a public land-grant, research university located in Gainesville, Florida, United States of America. The university is one of 62 elected members of the Association of American Universities. The University of Florida was founded in 1853, and is considered a Public Ivy institution.
The University of Florida is the second-largest university in the United States, with 51,913 students (as of Fall 2007) and has one of the largest budgets in the United States (nearly $4.377 billion per year). UF is home to 16 colleges and more than 150 research centers and institutes. As of the 2007/2008 academic year, UF ranked twelfth among all institutions in the number of new National Merit Scholar students enrolled. Researchers at the University of Florida were responsible for developing the famous sports drink Gatorade.
The University of Florida offers many graduate programs — including engineering, law and medicine — on one contiguous site, and coordinates 123 master degree programs and 76 doctoral programs in 87 schools and departments.
The University of Florida belongs to the Southeastern Conference. UF's intercollegiate sports teams are commonly referred to as the Florida Gators. Alligators named Albert and Alberta are designated the official University of Florida mascots. Alternatively, Florida's women athletes are known as Lady Gators. UF participates in the NCAA sports programs. Ten Gator athletic teams finished in the top ten during the 2005-2006 season, in addition to an NCAA title by the men's basketball team and the football team in 2007. Those finishes resulted in Florida finishing sixth in the 2006-07 Director's Cup. Throughout the school's history, the University of Florida's athletic program has earned twenty-seven total National Championships.
